Grimm Reapers of Remnant
by Storm Reaper VII
Summary: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long have completed their BEACON entrance exam to officially form Team RWBY. Fate has much in store for them as two especially menacing teams were also accepted in Ozpin's evaluations; Team JACK led by the cold Jin Kisaragi... and Team RAIN led by the enigmatic Ragna the Bloodedge. [RagnaxHarem] Currently on Volume Two
1. New Teams

_**Crimson I: New Teams**_

"I can't believe that we actually made it!" Yang Xio Long said with tears in her eyes as she smothered her little sister with a huge hug.

"Sis! Now's not a good time!" Ruby tried to object as she struggled out.

"Really, you couldn't save the hugs and kisses for later?" Weiss asked with a sigh. Blake (of course) seemed impartial to all of this. "We're the on display and everyone has their eyes on us, so at least try to make a proper first impression."

"C'mon, don't be so uptight," Yang told her white-haired teammate. "We've got a lot to be proud of, I mean only three teams made it through the trials this year and ours was probably the most-"

"And it seems that our final teams have also returned successfully from the entrance missions," Ozpin noted as the screen changed showing eight shadowy silhouettes.

"Wait there were two more teams?" Ruby asked as she looked to Weiss and Yang who looked just as confused as did the majority of the attendees at the assembly. "We… we didn't see anyone else out there that made it, did we?"

"These potential students were part of a separate training exam in a separate woodland area," Ozpin addressed to the crowd more than Ruby herself. "As such, their trail would take longer, but two teams were successful, perhaps even a few of you had heard rumors of them from the dropouts." The heavy doors leading into the hall finally opened leaving two additional groups of four headed up onto the stage, both of them appearing a tad rough from combat after having less time to refresh themselves once their conflict had ended.

"Returning back with the platinum playing cards we have Jin Kisaragi, Amane Nishiki, Celica A. Mercury, and Kagura Mutsuki. This group will be led by Jin Kisaragi to form team JACK," Ozpin introduced as the groups made their way onto the stage.

"Looks like we'll be dancing together for some time," a… person with light purple hair wearing a yukata said to a dark-haired man with violet eyes that was trying hard not to cringe. A bubbly red-haired girl merely giggled while a tall blonde was muttering something his breath... Ruby swore she could faintly hear the word brother.

"Team JACK huh?" Yang said, before smirking. "You know that dark haired guy's kind of cute." She then noticed the 'really?' look Ruby was sending her way. "Well he is."

"Kisaragi... I've heard of their family, they happen to have close ties with Atlus," Weiss admitted as her eyes noticed the blonde one. "...Unfortunately, I've never met them in person."

"Moving on…" Ozpin said as he looked over the list. "The last group returned the cobalt tarot cards. Tsubaki 'Izayoi' Yayoi, Noel Vermillion, Azrael, and Ragna will create team RAIN... Which will be led by Ragna the Bloodedge."

"Bloodedge? What kind of name is that?"

"Is that the group that everyone's been talking about?"

"Yeah, I heard that from one guy that Ragna managed to slay twenty Ursa Grimms by himself before finding his partner and then slew another thirty on the way to his objective."

"Then there's Azrael, rumor has it that he fought three different giant beasts at once and took them down with just his bare fists. Then when he and Ragna arrived at the relics, he tried to fight him before Ozpin broke them up."

"That's insane! What about the girls?"

"If half the rumors are true, they're totally NOT dateable."

"Shame too, they look pretty cute."

Curious what all of this supposed was about, Ruby took a quick look at the second group. The first person she laid eyes on was a large tattooed man with long blue hair and a growing goatee. He seemed to be looking over all of the other candidates, searching for potential opponents. His eyes and Ruby's met for a moment before the monster of a man smirked harshly. Ruby could swear she heard a low growl and averted her eyes to one of the girls. This one was a young blonde who was trying to act confident with a straight back, but who was clearly sweating nervously. Ruby felt sorry for her, but moved on to look at the redhead girl in a strange tan uniform who was staring daggers into the back of the fourth member's head like she was trying to decide how she'd assassinate him.

Ruby then got a look of the fourth member and she had to catch her breath. He was a tall man who seemed somewhat thin, but had an overall toned body. His hair was pale and spiky and his eyes were of differing color; a red right one and a green left one. His jacket was crimson red and his clothing beneath was black with thin white outlines. On one of his metal belts was a large sword which seemed to have a gun's revolver on it. He looked like he hadn't slept well and stood at the front in sort of a drowsy slouch. Looking the screen, Ruby saw that this was the leader of RAIN, this was Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Ooo, so does my sweet little sister have her eye on someone after all?" Yang asked with teasing smile. "He's certainly not hard to look at, especially if the two of you are sporting the same colors."

"N-No! Not a chance!" Ruby yelled out catching attention from a few people, yet Ozpin merely continued his speech. "It's just… look at him."

"Yeah, there seem to be some serious similarities goin' on here," the blonde agreed. "You should go talk to him! Introduce yourself! You'll need some new friends, won't you?"

"I...I guess," Ruby admitted as she returned her gaze to look at the mystery man. The figure let out a small yawn before noticing that the young girl was staring at him. Ruby blushed and was at a loss at what to do, so she gave a goofy smile and gave the 'peace' sign with one of her hands. _'What am I doing? That was weak…_ '

The silver haired man had different thoughts and gave a small chuckle before returning it with his own friendly 'peace' sign. Ruby then considered that her sister might've been right, maybe she could make a friend after all…

 _ **Author's Note: Went back and made a few well needed edits. Not much else to say since I'm re-posting the other chapter with this one. Ciao.**_


	2. Meeting Reds

_**Crimson II: Meeting Reds**_

' _Thank god the ceremony's over,'_ Ragna thought to himself before he covered his mouth as he let out a rather large yawn. ' _Damn it... falling asleep... What the hell did I do to deserve... Let's not go there..._ '

The ceremony congratulating those that he been accepted into Beacon academy hadn't ended that long ago, but Ragna had just barely managed to make it out of the ceremony still awake. Now certain students were getting things ready for their upcoming classes or even attending secret parties being held in the dorms (at least until Goodwitch found them and put a stop to the nonsense), but Ragna had decided that he'd be better off trying to catch up on the sleep he'd been denied last night. Couple that with the energy he'd had to exert during the exam and he was generally exhausted.

' _I'll have to head back to the guest quarters before long... but there's no trouble in resting my eyes for a moment. Right? Right,_ ' Ragna said as he finally let his eyes close before slumping back on the bench he'd been sitting on. A warm breeze in the air hit the Reaper in the face, causing him to slowly start to fall into a blissful sleep.

"So here's where you've been hiding," came a familiar voice. Ragna groaned as he opened his eyes, only for them to fall upon his fellow teammate Azrael. "This is where the mighty _Bloodedge_ finds himself after a fight. Sitting on a bench with his guard down..."

"Not my fault I'm dead tired, and you didn't help with that shit you pulled during the exam," Ragna told him harshly, leading Azrael to chuckle.

"Come on now, shouldn't a leader always be on his toes?" the _Mad Dog_ asked before roughly sitting on the bench next to the Reaper, much to Ragna's growing ire.

"Tell you what, why don't you be the damn leader since you seem to know so much about it?" Ragna asked him with a harsh glare in his eyes.

"Please, I want the job even less than you do, and that's quite clearly saying something," Azrael told him. "Although... maybe then I could finally order that fight I've been waiting for."

"...Just try it asshole," Ragna bit.

"Heh, you've got some spunk at least," Azrael chuckled. "So... what do you think of our competition?"

"If you're talking about the other teams, you've got the wrong idea," the Reaper told him, not bothering to stifle his yawn. "We don't have any opponents here, they're going to be sent on missions, same as us. You're just looking to pick a fight."

"Maybe... but I won't be the one to take a fall come competition time," Azrael told him as he stood. "Hey the little version of you..."

"You mean that kid from the ceremony?" Ragna asked, more than a little annoyed at Azrael's wording. "What about her?"

"Well, is it just me or does something about that kid seem off?" Azrael asked before smirking. "Maybe I should-" Before the mad dog could finish, he felt Ragna's sword at the side of his neck. "Oh? Acting protective now?"

"I owe someone a favor, and you're really pissing me off," the Reaper told him, his earlier grogginess seeming to be gone entirely. "Back off; something tells me you'll get a fight to the death soon enough."

"Heh, I'm holding you to that... leader," the Mad Dog said as he began walking off. "Also, do me a favor and don't let the red head put her knife in your back, last thing I want is her interfering."

' _Why do so many people always want to kill me?_ ' Ragna thought to himself with a sigh before he impaled his sword in the ground before him and closed his eyes. ' _Maybe now I can actually get some-'_

"THERE HE IS!" a girl's voice called out.

 _'Dammit,_ ' he groaned to himself before opening his eyes. Heading his way was the blonde girl and his little look-alike from the ceremony. The blonde seemed to have an eager smile on her face as she pulled the other girl behind her, the girl trying to break out of the hold with little success. "Can't a guy get any sleep around here?"

"Well if you wanted to get sleep, you should've headed to the dorm rooms," the blonde told him with a cheery smile. Ragna merely let out a groan. The girl besides the blonde didn't say anything, but stared at the sword impaled in the ground between the two. "Well then, I guess I'll leave the two of you to talk."

"Seems pretty sudden. Where the hell is this coming from?" Ragna muttered.

"A girl's gotta look out for her sister and at least help her net a friend or two," the blonde told him with a continued smile. As her sister was about to protest, she glared down with authority. "I told Weiss to lock the doors until I say so. See you in a half hour!"

' _Half_ a _n hour, seriously?_ ' Ragna thought with a sigh as the blonde headed off, leaving him with the girl before him. "So... You're Ruby Rose then?"

"Y-you know who I am?" Ruby asked, a little surprised.

"I heard a few of the rumors, youngest kid that got accepted into Beacon. Managed to show her stuff against a major group of thieves single-handedly..." Noticing Ruby's blush as she heard the stories praising her, Ragna let out a chuckle. "You have no idea how much Qrow wanted to boast to me about his niece to everyone when he heard the news about you."

"How do you know Uncle Qrow?" the little huntress-to-be asked with shock on her face.

"It's a bit of a story... You know you can take a seat if you want, I don't bite," Ragna offered to her.

"I'D KILL YOU IF YOU DID!" the two heard off in the distance.

"STOP SPYING YANG!" Ruby shouted back before shaking her head and sitting beside an amused Ragna. "Sorry about my sister, she's always sort of been like that."

"As far as siblings go, you're honestly the lucky one here," Ragna said as his expression darkened. "The less said about my brother, the better."

"Your brother? What's he like?" Ruby was starting to get more comfortable talking Ragna, slowly but surely.

"You'll find out soon enough, he's here at this academy," the silver haired man told her, his dark complexion not letting up in the slightest. "He's actually the leader of team JACK."

"So if he's their leader, then that makes him..." Ruby tried to think back to the blonde man that had been introduced earlier during the ceremony, the one that had the family name Weiss was familiar with. "Jim... Calamari?"

"Jim.. Ca..." Ragna slowly began before starting to laugh, Ruby was slightly embarrassed that she'd butchered his brother's name so badly, but she was also slightly relieved that his dark complexion seemed to fade completely. "It's Jin Kisaragi! What is he!? An octopus!? Oh, that's too funny!"

"Hey, so I screwed up a single name... Ragna the Blood-fridge," Ruby told him, while crossing her arms. (Ten points those who remembered who called him that first)

"It's BloodEDGE, or was that one on purpose?" he demanded, leaving Ruby merely to smile tauntingly. "Cute, Ruby... Nose? Toes? I got nothing," he admitted, only leading to more giggling from Ruby. "Heh, you've certainly got some spunk to you, I'll give you that."

"I'm having a hard time telling if that's a compliment or an insult," the young huntress-in-training admitted, leaving Ragna to chuckle. "Hey!"

"I'll let you be the one to decide that one, kid," the Reaper told her.

"Don't call me kid; I'm in the same classes as you," Ruby as she puffed her checks slightly in her pout, something which Ragna found adorable.

"Qrow told me that you were pretty quirky, I guess the old bird knew what he was talking about," Ragna said with a smirk as Ruby continued to pout. "...Must be why you were choosen to lead your team."

"Tha-thanks! I'm just doing my best!" Ruby told him proudly, confident that she wouldn't fail in the coming days. "Can I ask you something though?"

"Shoot."

"How exactly do you know my uncle?"

"Long story short, he and my own teacher have had a bit of a history with each other, but that's really all I know about it. Whenever I hounded him for answers, he'd never tell me about it..." Ragna groaned. "I actually met him a couple of times, helped give me a couple of pointers with my weapon... after he tried sneaking me alcohol. Jubei kicked _both_ of our asses for that one."

"Hee, sounds like something Qrow would do," Ruby agreed as she thought back to her uncle's attitude. "So... I can see a revolver cartridge on your weapon. Does it shoot dust or anything?"

"Nah, it's not a long range weapon, but..." Ragna began as he grabbed it out of the ground with his right hand. Ruby noticed a strange form of energy pour into it from Ragna's arm before the weapon transformed, stretching skywards before reaching over its side to form a massive scythe. "It can do that."

"Awesome!" Ruby said with sparkles in her eyes as she showed off her own weapon. Ragna watched as it first turned into a sniper rifle before turning into a scythe like his. "Looks like we've got similar weapons then."

"I guess so..." Ragna noted with a chuckle. "Guess it's just a matter of time 'till we see who's the better Reaper then."

"Reaper? Aren't you trying to become a huntsman?" Ruby questioned him.

"I guess I'm going to try to be both," Ragna admitted. "I just think Reaper's the cooler title to have." Adjusting his body, he let out a small yawn. "You should probably head back to the dorms, we've got classes starting early tomorrow, right?"

"I think so..." Ruby said as she thought back. "My team has Grimm studies with Professor Port first, what about you?"

"Same here, I guess I'll see you there" Ragna told his new acquaintance before yawning and taking a seat back on the bench. "I'll head back in a bit, but you go on ahead... Take care of yourself kid..."

"I'm not a kid!" Ruby shouted at him, but Ragna had already closed his eyes and it appeared that he'd already fallen asleep (he hadn't, but he didn't feel the need to correct her). "Seriously?"

Thankfully, when Ruby made it back to her dorm later, Weiss wasn't doing anything to keep her out yet... now that she thought about it, would Yang have actually coaxed her partner into doing that, or was it just a bluff? Regardless, as soon as she made it back inside Yang was on her in a moment's notice.

"That wasn't exactly half an hour, but you get points for trying," she told Ruby who rolled her eyes. "So... What was he like?"

"He's... he's definitely different than most of the boys I've met," she told her sister. "He also seems to know our uncle."

"Old man Qrow? Really?" Yang asked with surprise. "How'd that happen?"

"I don't know, just that Qrow knew his teacher."

"Really? Must mean that his teacher was quite the huntsman... or was it a woman?" Yang asked.

"Uh... he said the name Jubei... but that's about all I know," Ruby admitted.

"And his family life?"

"His brother's the guy from Team JACK, but that's it."

"And what about his hometown; where's he from?"

"I... I don't know, I didn't ask," Ruby told him.

"Got it, got it," Yang asked with an (apparently) knowing look in her eyes. "You were just too busy looking into the mismatched eyes of his, weren't you?"

"Y-YANG!" Ruby shouted with a blush.

"This is going to be a regular occurrence, isn't it?" Blake muttered to herself aloud as she continued reading her book while Ruby tried to defend herself from her sisters claims.

 _ **Author's Note: Wow. This one Really needed some TLAE (tender love and editing). I've changed a couple of things around this chapter, but not by a whole lot. It is a bit easier to fill in the gaps now that I've completely caught up with the main series.**_

 _ **Anyways, I'll see about posting both the next chapter of this and my last written chapter of... something before my February Hiatus. Take care everyone! Caio!**_


	3. First Classes

_**Crimson III: First Classes**_

"So... this is our room," Tsubaki said as she looked over the four beds posted around the team room. "I suppose it's good that we're out of that standard room in the guest quarters."

"Yep, now we can finally set it up the way we want to!" Noel said happily as she brought in her three suitcases and started setting up her posters... many of them of cute pandas, kittens, or anything fluffy and adorable.

"Do you really need all of that junk?" Azrael asked his partner as he took his own luggage and threw it on top of his bed. "That sort of stuff would just clutter the whole place."

" _Some_ of us want to make sure that we have everything we need to make it through the school year," Tsubaki scolded her teammate. "Not all of us want to have to wear the same outfit all day like some sort of-"

"Jeeze, not so loud," Ragna groaned from his bed and he gripped his head. He hadn't taken any of his supplies out, but he'd place his own suitcase underneath his bed to keep it out of the foot traffic.

"What's your problem? You look completely out of it," Azrael observed bluntly.

"Blame Jin and Kagura, those assholes have made these last few days complete hell for me," the Grim Reaper muttered, causing Tsubaki to glare at him at the mere mention of Jin's name. "I'll unpack later, see you guys in class." And with that he headed off down the hallway.

"Our leader ladies and gentlemen," Tsubaki told the others with great sarcasm. "Out of all of us, why on earth was he chosen to be the head of our team?"

"...Probably because of the RAIN acronym honestly," Azrael admitted. "Teams don't make the damnedest bit of sense when it comes to their leaders; RWBY has the youngest member of the academy heading their team and the less said about JNPR's leader the better." The Mad Dog then chuckled. "To be completely fair though, all three of them make far better leaders than you ever could."

"Excuse you!?" Noel became nervous as her best friend raised her voice and became more enraged than when she was dealing with Ragna. "Where on earth do you get the right to say that you...!? You...!"

"What? Monster? Grimm-spawn? Berserker? Whatever kind of name you want to give me, it's still better than what I can say about your little performance during the exam," Azrael told her bluntly as he started heading for the door before stopping in front of it. "Now that I think back on it..."

"What is it now?" Tsubaki demanded, her eyes completely filled with hatred at the Mad Dog.

"...Ozpin and Goodwitch were going to fail your entrance performance."

Tsubaki felt her blood go cold. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"It's the truth; I overheard them talking after the exam was over," Azrael told her. "Apparently, they didn't take well to you trying to kill your own partner. You were more of a hindrance to the both of you than any actual help."

"B-But I-!" Tsubaki stuttered, trying to regain her composure. "What about you then!? You tried to kill Ragna as well!"

"Kill him? No, that was just a test _after_ we'd completed the mission objective. Maybe I didn't give him a choice, but I at least decided to wait until our test was over. Plus, this mad dog did its job and looked out for his partner." He glanced to Noel who trembled under the giant man's gaze. "She needs some work, but I think she's got some potential for down the road."

"Th-thank you?" Noel stuttered with slight confusion if that was supposed to be a compliment or not.

"Now... I got one more little revelation for you, red head," Azrael told Tsubaki. "Your partner; the guy you tried to kill only because you couldn't be teamed up with his brother and still try to berate to this day... he's the only reason you managed to get into Beacon at all."

"You're lying!" Tsubaki shouted.

"Actually, I'm not," the Mad Dog explained. "See, when Ozpin and Goodwitch were talking to our dear leader, they were telling him that his team was going to be of three; Team RAN I guess. Apparently, both of them thought that you would be a bad fit for the team, so he suggested we drop you and move on as normal. And you want to know what he did?"

Tsubaki said nothing, she only kept glaring at the Mad Dog with severe hatred in her eyes. Noel didn't do anything, only trembling with fear and sadness as she listened to the debate.

" _He stood up for his partner,_ " Azrael told her before finally opening the door. "God knows why he bothered..." With that he exited and closed the do behind him, leaving a tension heated atmosphere in his wake.

"Tsubaki..." Noel said as she tried to put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Not now Noel," Tsubaki said as she pushed it off of her. She then looked at the ceiling and scowled heatedly. ' _I will never forgive Ragna_ _the Bloodedge_ _for what he did to Jin... NEVER._ '

Outside the dorm room, Azrael headed down the hallway to his next class, causing several students to immediately part for him as he walked through. ' _Cowards,'_ he thought to himself before continuing on. It was like this for him no matter where he went. Only a handful of people ever had the balls to approach him... but it seemed like there was one such person here now.

"Well now, that was a heated performance," said one Amane Nishiki as the dancer approached Azrael.

"Tch, I thought some creep was listening in," Azrael muttered as he didn't slow in his stride. "So what the hell do you want?"

"Just to sate my curiosity really; I'm interested why you'd bother coming to your leader's defense. Pardon my blunt observations, but you clearly don't seem to be the type," he admitted.

"I wasn't defending anyone; just stating the harsh truth to our weakest link," Azrael told him. "It's an investment more than anything else; if our leader doesn't have to waste all of his time dealing with some red head trying to kill him, he can focus on getting stronger. Then when he's at his peak-"

"You'll challenge him to a fight to the death, I'm aware," Amane said with a sigh. "Though, I thought you already considered him enough of a rival when the two of you duked it out yesterday."

"...The fight ended too early to consider anything; it looked like he could keep up with me physically, but neither of us unleashed our semblances."

"All of the damage was with sheer muscle alone then?" Amane said as he thought back to the destruction that had been caused in wake of the two's fight. "Perhaps the two of us could enjoy a dance soon enough?"

"Don't tempt me, I've already got three targets I'm interested in," Azrael said with a dark laugh.

 _ **Later -The Classroom-**_

' _This idiot!'_ Wiess Schnee thought to herself as her team 'leader' Ruby made a series of funny faces while their teacher, Professor Port, continued to drown on and on about how he had become a hunter and his several adventures.

Peter Port was a slightly obese man with a large and bushy mustache. He went into his adventure with more detail than a Stephen King novel, painting himself with all of the colors of a great Hunter. Even Wiess could admit that the subject material was boring, but that didn't give Ruby an excuse to slack off and act childish during class. Weiss just had it; she decided it was time to put her foot down and-

"SNRRKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" came a sudden sound, breaking Weiss out of her thoughts and even stopping the classroom teacher from his story telling.

"What on earth is that!?" he demanded, appearing to be rather startled.

"Oh man! Is it another giant Grimm!?" a rather timid Jaune Arc exclaimed as the blonde frightfully remembered yesterday's events during the exam. His teammate, Lie Ren, gave a small sigh as his leader covered his trembling head with his arms for protection.

"I wish it was a monster..." Azrael growled as he glared at the seat beside him. Everyone turned their gazes to their spot only to see the team leader of RAIN slumped forward over his desk. Ragna's eyes were shut tight as he continued to snore loudly. Had Wiess been annoyed at Ruby's antics, she was completely flabbergasted that the older student had the gall to fall asleep in the middle of class.

"A-HEM!" Port called out to his asleep student. When Ragna didn't move in response, Azrael reluctantly shook him awake causing Ragna to drowsily raise his head with a piece of paper and a pink eraser sticking to his cheek. "Having a nice nap, are we?"

"Sorry, I haven't been able to get any sleep for the past few days," Ragna drowsily told his teacher as tried to a shake his head and awaken himself; it didn't help much and his head was still pounding painfully.

"Is that so? And why, pray tell, haven't you gotten the proper amount of sleep that any hunter in training would need for the task ahead?" the Professor asked his student. Ragna didn't say anything, but his complexion seemed to darken.

"...Homesick," he answered after a long pause though it was a complete lie. "...I couldn't sleep because I was homesick." He heard several of the laughs that came from the other students, but he didn't seem to care.

"Understandable, the longing for the company of loved ones is someone that every person at this academy has to endure, even those that have already become Hunters and Huntresses." Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby noticed Jin's scalding glare towards his brother at the Professor's mentioning of loved ones. "However, I would offer a word of caution... If your unable to react in combat due to this form of weariness, wellyou may find others to you'll miss once the battle is over."

"...You don't need to tell me twice," Ragna answered readily. Port gave a small chuckle.

"You're certainly acting like you know what I'm talking about, but let's see if I can get that young adrenaline flowing." Snapping his fingers, a large crate was brought into his class room. "Back in my much grander days of fighting, I noticed that being in the heat of combat was the best method of keeping your mind off of unrelated matters. Care to experience it first hand?"

"...I guess," Ragna said as he drowsily rose from his seat and slowly made his way down to the front of the classroom. Port then headed over and stood beside the large crate.

"Now, this creature is a little tougher to deal with than the more common Grimm you faced in the exam, but it can still be easily beat as long as you stay on your toes and identify its key weakness. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yeah, sure... whatever," Ragna said as he was still having trouble staying awake.

Satisfied with the answer he'd been given, Port then undid the latch and unleashed the Grimm from within. The monster was shaped as a boar and the upper part of his body was completely covered in white bones. It had long curved, tusks on either sides of its dark snout. The thing rolled into a ball, spun in place for a few moments, and then launched itself into Ragna. The Reaper didn't even seem to try to defend himself, only being blasted to the ground before he quickly managed to rise to his feet.

' _Okay, think I'm up now,_ ' he irritably thought to himself. ' _Let's finish this thing off before my headache gets any-!_ ' Having an 'oh shit' moment as he reached for his sword, Ragna glanced behind him only to realize he'd left his blade back in his room, having thought it wouldn't be required. ' _Dammit,_ ' he thought as the boar nearly plowed into him a second time.

"Are we really sure he was the one they were whispering about last night?" Blake asked as Ragna was forced to leap into the air to avoid yet another attack from the rolling boar. "He's missing his weapon, he looks too drowsy to fight properly, and he's having trouble against a single Grimm."

"Maybe he's just having an off day?" Yang suggested, but didn't seem too impressed herself

 _'Damn, wish I could say that the chicks are wrong, but for the most part they've got my number...'_ Ragna thought with annoyance as the Boar came at him for another rolling charge. ' _Looks like I'm going to have to use 'that.' I'd better make this quick.'_

Side-stepping the monster's roll one final time, Ragna waited for the monster to swerve around before finally rushing forward. Slamming his fist down heavily upon the Grimm, it gave a shrill scream right before it bounced from the force.

"A powerful attack, but this one's hide is stronger than most," Port lectured from where he watched. "In order to defeat you'll have to-"

"I know already!" Ragna shouted before leaped into the air and chased after the Boar. The monster gave a shrill squeal as he... no one could really say what Ragna had done to the creature, only that when he and the Boar fell to the ground it wasn't moving.

"I see you've managed to the defeat the creature... and in a rather enigmatic way at that," the professor said acknowledging Ragna abilities as the Reaper remained standing with his back to the teacher. "Tell us, was that a part of your semblance ability or did you perhaps-?"

Unable to remain standing any longer Ragna collapsed to the floor. Leading most of the class to stare on worriedly while others whispered worriedly among themselves.

"It's alright, it's alright!" Port declared, trying to calm his students down. "I'll see that he gets medical attention and-!"

"SNRRKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Port gave a grimace as he was interrupted once more by Ragna's snoring as the Reaper laid on the floor, once more passed out with exhaustion. He stared at the apparent trouble student for a moment before sighing. "I think that's enough excitement for our first day. Class dismissed... Now will someone please carry this student to his next lessons?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got him," Azrael grumbled as he picked the sleeping form of Ragna up and slung him over his shoulder like a snoring rag doll. "Tch, now I'm his nanny? This bites."

The students started to pile out of the classroom, each of them eager not to be late for their next class of the day. Soon the only two left in the room were Ruby and Weiss.

"Well, that was a pretty _boar_ -ing class," Ruby said with her goofy smirk, trying to get one last joke in for Weiss. The white haired student then stood with a sudden forcefulness that surprised her team leader. "Um... Weiss?"

"...Why can't you grow up already?" she asked with venom. Ruby couldn't respond, not the Weiss was waiting around long enough for a response.

 _Later -That Night-_

"Okay, last chapter of reading then I'm finally hitting the hay," Ragna said aloud to himself as he sat on the bench outside of the school, the same one where he'd met Ruby the night prior. "I need to find somewhere else to spend the night from now on, otherwise I'm going to wake up with a knife in my head or-" He gave an involuntary shudder at that last thought. "Having trouble focusing... one cup of Joe and then it's right back to work."

Bookmarking the page he'd been about to to start, Ragna closed the book and rose to stretch his stiff muscles. Despite his napping through his first class (and his trip on Azrael's shoulder), not all of the Reaper's stamina had returned and that made it difficult to get through that night's assigned reading. By now the rest of the students were either in their dorms preparing for the next day of classes or already fast asleep. Heading into one of the buildings, the Reaper came to one of the student break rooms... only to pause when he saw Ruby sitting at the table working tirelessly as she read over her books.

"Someone's putting in the midnight oil," Ragna noted aloud causing Ruby to jump in her seat at his unexpected arrival. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"You just startled me," Ruby told him sheepishly. Ragna gave a small chuckle, put he paused when he got a glance inside of Ruby's book. "Something wrong?"

"...You're eight chapters ahead," he noted before crossing his arms. "Have you been studying all night?"

"I have... It's just, I'm not really sure that I'm ready to lead a team... I mean, I sort of got called out earlier for acting like a kid in class... and when I talked to Ozpin about it, he told me that if my teams going to succeed they're going to need to be as serious as I can be."

"Well, staying up late to study is one way to do that," Ragna agreed before he headed over to the room's coffee maker. "How do you take your coffee?"

"Cream and five sugars?" Ruby answered nervously, knowing it was most likely how kids tried to drink coffee.

"...I used to take mine with _eight_ sugars," Ragna told her as he began mixing the two's drinks and Ruby gave his a small but friendly smile. "You get used to the taste eventually, like with most things... so where are you in the reading?"

"Well..."

For the next few hours, Ragna and Ruby sat with one another at the table. Ragna had finished the last of his readings relatively quickly, but had decided to stay if not to further his own progress then to give Ruby someone to study with (that and he wasn't in any hurry to return to his team's room). Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he realized that they'd been studying past midnight.

"We oughta call it a... night," Ragna said as he realized Ruby had once more fallen asleep. Getting a proper glance at the books around her and the bookmarks in each one, he realized that she was now ahead by at least six chapters in every subject and had at least managed to close the books before 'resting her eyes.' "Qrow was right, this one is a character..."

Ragna knew that it was too late to carry the young huntress-in-training to her room (plus he had no idea which one it was) so he decided it probably was a better choice for them to both spend the night in the break room. Besides, the couches off to the side would make a nice makeshift bed for him. Taking off his coat, he laid his favorite article of clothing over Ruby's back so that she wouldn't have to spend the entire night cold. He was about to head over to take his place on one of the couches before realizing that there was someone else watching the two.

"..." Ragna gave the staring Weiss Shnee a passive smirk before he headed over to his couch. "Just give the kid a chance; she's trying at least." She didn't say anything to Reaper, merely giving him a passive nod before walking off. "...Talk about an _Ice Queen._ "


	4. Shade

_Warning for the reader: Hey everyone, it's-a-Storm VII here with a brief before-chapter message. Just to let you know, I'm going to have a lot of events going on between Canon episode. Basically, this is the equivalent of an anime doing filler while the manga updates. This is to give the series a chance to finish and for more character development and other ideas. Enjoy!_

 _ **Crimson IV: Shade**_

"...You know... I was starting to get curious when you'd make your move," Ragna said, his expression a shade so dark it seemed to eliminate any sunlight in the immediate area. "Ever since we met each other, I knew it in my gut... _This chick wants me dead_... I didn't know when... And I didn't know how... But I knew you would act... And now here we are, at your very first attempt at trying to kill me."

"Oh quit your monologuing. I try to do something nice for you and this is how you thank me?" Tsubaki Yayoi demanded from her leader. "I just wanted to make sure you got a nutritional meal."

"How is THAT nutritional!? Is it even meant to be eaten!?" Ragna shouted as he pointed at the plate of... something in front of him. It was vile, repugnant, and largely responsible for the wide berth the other student were giving to Team _RAIN's_ table.

"I... I... cooked that..." Noel said, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes. Ragna cringed at the display, but he still minded his distance around the death meal.

"Just eat it," Azrael muttered as he tore into his bag of beef jerky. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

"That would put me at a god level if I survived..." Ragna muttered.

"Why do you think I want you to go for it?" the _Mad Dog_ asked with a nasty snarl.

"Why me...?" Ragna moaned as he slowly made his way towards the meal. The occasional student watched as he cut into it, pulled... something out with his fork and brought up to his lips.

"Ragna wait!" he heard Ruby call. Looking towards his fellow huntress-in-training, the Reaper let out a titanic sigh of relief. Of course it would be Ruby to come to his rescue; sweet, caring, innocent Ruby who... was now pointing her scroll to record him. "Okay, now go!"

"You're supposed to be my only friend! Why don't you have my back?!" Ragna shouted at her before looking back to his forkful of Noel's cooking. "Yare yare daz-..." The Reaper's eyes narrowed as his eyebrow seemed to twitch... but he wasn't focused on the fork in front of him. Placing the utensil down, Ragna rose to his feet. "Hold that thought."

"Aww... and here I was about to get new subscribers..." Ruby said as she put the scroll away and sat down at her team table.

"Probably just chickened out," Yang said to her sister. "Then again, I wouldn't want to eat whatever that was."

"I... won't disagree," Weiss said in turn. "That looked like it would be tough for anyone to choke down."

"Hey, she's talking to us now," the blonde said as she gave a small punch to her teammate's arm which the silver hair flinched at. "Decided to give being friendly a chance?"

"Just that, a chance," Weiss told them, remembering back to yesterday's several events. As Ragna got out from his table and walked past them; he did not look pleased. "What's his problem?"

"After what a wild card he was yesterday, it's was hard to... say," Blake Belladonna told them as she saw where Ragna was headed.

"I thought I saw you in the library earlier today? Didn't you have your ears caught in the door?" one student taunted a rabbit Faunus.

"Yeah, I think I saw here too, she was _hopping_ to try and get through the door, just like some kind of freak!" another student mocked. The girl they were bullying didn't seem to have the confidence to defend herself.

"Hey why don't you try cutting those lousy things off? Maybe then people could stand to look at you and wouldn't have to cry every time someone talked to to you!"

"Boys, boys, I think we're being a little too harsh," Cardin, the leader of team CRDL, told his teammates. "After all, she's too busy trying to find someone to have dozens of freaks just like her with." The team then laughed, leaving the poor girl on the verge of crying.

"Quit it."

He didn't raise his voice, he didn't have any anger in it, but Ragna's words spoke volume... and a lot of it. All at once the entire mess hall turned silent while they turned to face the leader of team RAIN as he stood before the entirety of team CRDL.

"I'm... sorry?" Cardin said as he rose to full height so that he was eye to eye with Ragna. "What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me; Quit. It."

"Trying to act brave?" Cardin said as everyone listened in. "Are you done crying in your sheets about missing home?" Cardin chuckled while his flunkies imitated Ragna crying. He then glanced behind the Reaper. "Looks like you forget your weapon... Again."

Ragna didn't say anything.

"C'mon, I knew you were an idiot, but standing up for a Faunus? What? Are you a sympathizer!? Is that what you are!?"

"What Faunus needs sympathy?" Ragna retorted, leaving Blake to narrow her eyes as she watched. "All they really need are jackasses like you to leave 'em alone." Ragna glanced over his shoulder towards some of the other students. "They've got their own talents between them, same as us. What you're doing isn't just dated; it's idiotic."

"...I knew it; you made up those stories about you entrance test," Cardin said pushed Ragna, causing the Reaper to take a step back. "You think that all of those tall tales could fool me? You could barely stand against that boar yesterday and now you think you're a tough guy? Who the hell do you think you are!?"

 _ **THWACK!**_

"Short answer? Someone who's all outta shits to give," Ragna said as everyone stared slack jawed at the student who was planted firmly in the ceiling above them. Giving a weak groan, Cardin slowly fell from the crevice befrore Ragna grabbed the surprised Faunus by the arm and moved her out of the way as Team CRDL's leader came crashing down where she'd been sitting.

"Th-Thank you..." the young Faunus said to him as Ragna turned away from her.

"Whatever." With that blunt and dismissive word, Ragna headed out of the lunch room.

"So... any comment on that performance, red-head?" Azrael asked with a chuckle.

"Several," Tsubaki said with continued annoyance.

"And he didn't even eat my... meal?" Noel asked as she looked to the cleaned plate that had been in front of Ragna. She and Tsubaki then glanced at each other in stunned silence before turning to Azrael who was picking his teeth with a toothpick.

"Needed more salt, but not bad," Azrael muttered half-heartedly. "...Blondie, why the hell are you crying?"

"I'm... just... happy," a smiling Noel said as tears poured from her face

"Helloooooo ladies!" a certain _Black Gale_ called as he entered the mess-hall with his usual cocky attitude as all four members of Team JACK followed in suit (card pun). All of them then saw the display of three terrified member of team CRDL while their leader lay prone on their table, a massive indent in the ceiling, more than half of the students staring at a fidgeting rabbit Faunus, and a clearly unnerved Azrael whose eyes were wide as Noel cried before him with a bright smile on her face while Tsubaki stared blankly at a cleaned plate. "...What the hell did we miss!?"

 _ **Hallways Outside**_

Ragna didn't say anything as he walked through the hallways, several students whispering behind his back as he passed them by. The Reaper avoided them and made for an empty classroom. He eventually found one and saw by the schedule that it wouldn't be in use for at least an hour. Sighing with relief, Ragna headed inside and let out a massive groan.

" _There are still people out there who don't completely trust Faunus?_ What next? Were you going to tell me that water is a little wet?" the Reaper questioned aloud with a harsh scowl. "It's even worse than I thought it would be! How is this shit still allowed!?"

Outside the classroom, Professor Ozpin watched as Ragna ranted to himself about what he had witnessed in the cafeteria. While the enigmatic teacher wouldn't condone the methods used, he did see Ragna's point to them and did have an inkling about his previous learning environment. The teacher was about to open the door to give the student a few sage words of advice... but stopped as the situation slowly began to develop before his very eyes.

"Can I... help you with something?" Ozpin asked the student before him. "Miss Belladonna?"

"I was just..." Blake began as she tried to come up with he reason. Ozpin raised his right hand and effectively stopped her attempted excuse.

"Go. He's inside." Following his order, the Team RWBY member entered the classroom and closed the door behind her. Smirking as an annoyed Goodwitch approached him from behind, Ozpin gave the tiniest of chuckles. "What say we let him off with a warning... just this once?"

"Ozpin..."

"We both know that this won't be the last time this particular student causes trouble at _Beacon_. He'll surely spend more than his share of time in the detention halls... Besides, we're both aware of his... _condition._ "

"ONLY this once," Goodwitch said in turn. "He should know the rules."

"I'm sure he does," Ozpin told her. "The problem for him is following them."

Back inside the room, the conversation had yet to start. Ragna just kept his arms crossed and glared at the girl in front of him, hoping that she'd soon leave. Blake wasn't budging and continued to glare back at Ragna.

"...Does your Team know?" Ragna finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Do they know what?" Blake demanded.

"The ears," he responded. Silence. "Look, I won't say anything if you don't want me to, but it'd be better if you told them on your terms than on fate's." Silence. "...Well you sure as hell didn't follow me just to keep glaring at me, so what do you want?"

"I want to know about why you feel the way you do about the Faunus," Blake told him. "Out everyone I met the most anyone will do is try to end a dispute peacefully, but I never saw someone try to defend one like you did... most _Faunus_ sympathizers are often social exiles."

"I'm already a social exile, your point?" Ragna questioned rudely. Blake didn't falter. "My teacher..."

"He's a Faunus?"

"Not exactly..." Ragna admitted before sighing. "Let's think of it like this. So you've got two sides of the spectrum and Pure Humans and Pure Animals on opposite sides, alright?" Blake nodded. "So then there are the Faunus and they can vary on the ratio between their human qualities and their animal ones, but they're usually only 10 to 35 percent animal traits."

"That's... rather general, but go on," Blake said, and that was being generous.

"This is straight from my teacher's mouth, not mine." Ragna defended. "Speaking of him, he's what's called a Beast-Man. If I had to put a number on him, I'd say he's probably closer to 70 percent."

"Beast-man?" Blake questioned. "I thought they were a myth."

"My teacher says otherwise; though he never talked about it much," Ragna admitted. "He once mentioned that he had two brothers, but that's all I remember him telling me. Anyways, he's the one who's been raising and looking after me... I owe him a lot."

"So is that why you stepped in to save Velvet?" Blake was starting to get a better feel for Ragna, but was surprised when he shook his head.

"Nah... stepped in cause I saw some guys being a bunch of complete dicks to her. It doesn't have anything to do with Faunus or Humans; it's just who I am I guess." Ragna then leaned against the wall. "...Back when... before I met my teacher, I didn't really give a damn about Faunuses one way or another... so maybe spending so much time with him changed me, I don't really know." Ragna then gave a small chuckle. "Back when the I first met the guy I was completely taken by his ears, actually went and pet them without asking him."

"You... you did what?" Blake asked. In Faunus society that was usually something only to be done between close individuals or as a form of insult.

"Hey give me a break, I was eight," Ragna laughed. "Trust me, he was sure to teach me how wrong I was afterwards by kicking my ass."

"...Sounds like an interesting man," she admitted. "I'd like to meet him if you know how to."

"Problem is I don't," Ragna told her. "He's not the type to keep a scroll on him and he goes where he wants... I can think of a couple of places we used to camp at a couple of times, but those are pretty far into the wild lands. I wouldn't recommend going even if I knew he was there."

"I see..."

"HEY YOU TWO!" The two heard, snapping them out of their thoughts. Into the classroom came the rest of team RWBY, along with their hyper leader that had called out to them.

"Hey kid," Ragna said in turn with a smirk. "What brings the three of you here?"

"We were just wondering whatever our partner would want with you," Weiss said as she turned to face Blake. "You did leave rather suddenly after his... display."

"...She just had a question about the _Grimm Studies_ class we're in," Ragna covered for Blake, much to her relief. "Just a question about the Avian types she didn't quite get."

"And she went to you for it?" Yang asked. "No offense, but you seemed pretty out during yesterday's class if I'm remembering things right."

"That's where I came in," Ruby said proudly as she put her hands on her hips in a triumphant pose. "The two of us spent all of last night studying ahead and cramming those books!"

"Aw, so you two are already study partners; that's perfect," Yang said, leaving Ruby to smile brightly and Ragna to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, we'll call it that," he muttered. ' _...This is first non-aggressive conversation I've had in a group since I've gotten here... and it's not even with my own team._ '

"I'm not sure if you'd be interested, but the rest of us were going to head to the Library after classes ended for today," Weiss told him. "If you wanted to, you could bring your team and all of us could study together." Ragna's face immediately darkened and the girls swore it was destroying any lighting in the room. "What's with that look?"

"...Is it alright... If it's just me... _Please?_ "

 _ **Author's Note: So... shorter chapter this time. Good news; I managed to write this thing in like a day. I might just stick with this for a while since I've been burnt out writing SO MANY long and epic chapter. It's been too long since I've done a basic Slice-of-Life. Anyways, see you next chapter.**_

 _ **Ciao!**_


	5. House of Cards

_**Crimson V: House of Cards**_

" Rrr..." A low growl. Eyes focused harshly and trying to remain on the paper in front them. An intense and quick rhythm of a pen writing, its movement both precise and enraged. "RRRR..." A much higher growl. A quickened rhythm, words being written at a pace that would be too quick for nearly anyone else. The strain bending the-

 _ **SNAP!**_

"I think that makes the third pen you've broken since we got here," a whimsical dancer notes with a joking smile upon his face. Amane's joyful expression doesn't falter against Jin's harsh glare.

"It's okay Jin, I have another pen you can use," Celica said with a smile as she handed Jin-

 _ **SNAP!**_

"Dammit. Celica, do you think you could give me another pen as well?" Kagura Mutsuki asked as he scowled at the two halves of his own metal pen. "I think I'm off today."

"Really, I wonder what on earth could be causing that?" Amane asked, continuing to smile as he looked over at the table of five a short distance across the library.

"Ugh... Average Grimm species weights..." Yang muttered as she rested her chin on the table and tried to read the upright book. "And we need to have thirty of them memorized by tomorrow? What's the point of it?"

"Because it can give you a good idea of how to approach 'em," Ragna explained as he read a book in his left hand while he made notes with his right. He then took a potato chip from his snack bag... AND ATE IT. "Weight can usually translate to fat, and fat on Grimm can usually mean it's harder for your attacks to get through, but it can make 'em slower. It's all about changing up your approach to a fight. Blasting those gauntlets of yours nonstop won't solve everything."

"Says the guy who we've only ever seen punching things," Yang retorted, but kept reading.

"Well I don't see the problem of it," Weiss told the others with a proud smile. "It's all about form and finesse, something that the Schnee family has had mastery of for generations."

"And you turn into an _Ice Queen_ because of it? Lousy trade off," Ragna said with a smirk, catching the book Weiss crossly threw at his face while Ruby giggled at the display. "What about you Blake; you've been characteristically quiet."

"Maybe because we're in a library," the hiding Faunus said to Ragna who merely gave her a guilty shrug. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but sniff the air. "Do I smell... fish?"

"Yeah, these chips I got as a snack," Ragna muttered before taking another one out of the bag and showing off its pinkish texture. "This was the only one the machine had left. Some sort of salmon flavor to 'em; they're not great, but-"

"CanIhavethemthen?" Blake abruptly questioned. Everyone turned to stare at the usually more reserved girl as her face slowly became lit with a blush at her insistence. "I mean... only if you don't want them."

"...Here, all yours," Ragna muttered as he tossed the bag to Blake, who merely nodded before biting into a chip, her blush not fading in the slightest.

"...How does he get to study with four girls?" Kagura muttered back at his table. "C'mon, he's clearly got no charm and he's not even _trying_ any pick up lines."

"Um... Well maybe they're just friends?" Celica offered.

"Either way, I don't like it," Jin said in partial agreement with Kagura. "They're not even part of his team." _'And he's avoiding me..._ '

"Have you considered that he's simply trying to build a steady relationship with the other teams?" Amane Nishiki suggested, trying to remain the voice of reason. "As a team leader, it would only make sense that he'd want to seek out an teams that could work well with his own and-" _**SNAP**_ "...Jin, I think Celica will run out of pens rather quickly if you keep breaking them at that rate."

"Mind your own business," the blonde snapped coldly before looking down at his report. "...I've just finished writing anyways." ' _brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother,brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother.,'_ read the report which Jin immediately pocketed.

"At least our first day off isn't too far off," Amane said with a sigh at the behavior of his teammates. "That'll give the both of you a chance to pursue whatever obscure goals you want and I'll be able to... get a break from the both of you. Perhaps use the time to catch up on my Yoga."

"Can you teach me, Amane? I've always wanted to learn yoga," Celica asked.

"Certainly, I'd be more than delighted to help you," Amane said before he heard a book close. Glancing upwards he saw that Ragna had been the one to close the book and was currently stretching with a heavy yawn. "Oh? Perhaps he's done working."

 _'And not a moment too soon,'_ Jin and Kagura both thought in unison.

"There's that done," Ragna muttered right before he pushed out his chair from the table.

"Aw, you're leaving already?" Yang said, sounding disappointed. "C'mon we could still use your help."

"I'll be back, I'll be back, just wanna grab some water," the Reaper promised as he rose and got a few pops out of his neck. He then headed through the library to hit the drinking fountain out in the hallways. "...They're a hell of a group, I can say that much."

"Hey, did you see that Ragna guy in the library with an all girls team?" he overhead one student whispering to another. "Wasn't he the one that was struggling against that Boar Grimm in Port's class?"

"Yeah, I heard about him too," a female student responded. "Apparently he even fell asleep in the middle of it. He's sounding more and more like a total loser."

 _'Go figure_ ,' Ragna thought to himself. _'Cause of Jin and Kagura I have to wrestle through two restless nights and I get blamed when I fall asleep in class... Tch, so what if people are talking? I've never given a damn before; I got no reason to start now.'_

"Then again he was at the table with four girls, and all of them were from a completely different team," the guy said. "That and he protected that Faunus girl in the lunchroom."

"So you're saying he's a player," the girl summarized. "Well I guess it could make sense."

 _'And now I'm getting confused for Kagura? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?'_ he shouted in his mind while his scowl sharpened.

"I'm just saying it sounds like he's been getting pretty chummy with all of the girls at this academy, I mean you never see him with a guy do you?"

"Shit, just when I had enough on my mind I've gotta deal with this," Ragna muttered aloud before he turned back, his thoughts of grabbing water from the drinking fountain abandoned. Heading back to the table, he saw that the books were being cleared away to make room. "...I thought you wanted my help to study."

"We just wanted to take a quick break," Ruby tried to tell him with a smile. "Yang brought cards, so she thought we could play a short game."

"Of what, poker?" Ragna asked as he looked at the cards. They didn't look like any playing cards he'd ever seen before; there were two piles of cards of red and blue.

"Not exactly," the blonde told him. "This is actually a sort of watered down version of a game that Ruby and I used to play with our dad and uncle. C'mon join in, it'll be fun."

"Good grie..." Ragna paused as he laid his hand back on his chair. It might've been the comments he'd heard just then, but now that he glanced around, he was starting to notice that a large portion of the students were staring at him from afar. He doubted that it had anything to do with... _that_ idea, but there was still a chance. "...Mind if I opt out of this?"

"Aw c'mon, I'll go easy on you," Yang promised. Though her smile seemed bright and cheerful, Ragna could practically taste the competitive and sadistic edge that accompanied it. Glancing around once more, he realized that the other students were now whispering among each other.

 _'Dammit.'_ "Well if you insist... can I bring someone else in too?" Ragna asked. "Card games usually do better when there's an even number of people, right?"

"Go ahead," Yang told him as she continued to shuffle her cards. "This game's max is six people anyways." Glancing around at his options, Ragna sighed when his eyes landed on team JACK's table. Walking over, he quickly considered his next move in his head.

' _Nice as Celica is, she's out cause that clearly goes against the point I'm trying to make. Amane's too... Amane, so if I bring him along I'd just be sending a ton of mixed signals. Kagura's too big of a womanizer and I'd rather be sent straight to hell than be mistaken for his wing man. That leaves... well this had to happen sooner or later.'_

"Oi, Jin," Ragna said. The blonde looking up from his report which he'd been pretending to be focused upon. "Up for a card match?"

"That depends, what are we playing?" Jin said in response, testing out the waters... that or mistakenly playing hard to get.

"Damn, I dunno... We need another person to play cards, so are you in or what?" ' _I'm not going to beg to you Jin, you can damn well be assured of that much..._ '

"I can join you, Ragna!" Celica said happily as she began to rise from her seat. Only to be stopped as Jin stood with more force than Ragna had wanted. "Um..."

"Well if you insist my dear brother... then how can I possibly say no?" he told Ragna in a tone both as cool and cruel as ice.

"...Just get your god damn cameras out of my room," he muttered under his breath as they headed back to the table. "Everyone, this guy is my little brother, Jin. Jin, this is team RWBY."

"I'm well aware, both of our teams were at the entrance ceremony, brother," Jin told him before analyzing the seating arrangements. Unfortunately for him, it didn't appear that any two chairs were next to each other meaning he wouldn't be able to sit beside his dear brother. This irked him slightly, but he knew that if he changed the seating arrangement his brother wouldn't be pleased. Currently the only two open seats were either between Yang and Weiss or between Ruby and Blake. Seeing how cheerful Ruby already was around Ragna and remembering that Blake had been seen earlier chasing after his brother, he abruptly sat in between the two of them, leaving the others somewhat surprised.

"Guess I'll change seats then," Ragna relented as he sat between Weiss in Yang. "So, what's this game we're playing anyways.

 _ **(Author's Note: The rules for this game are based loosely off another card game called 'Munchkin.' You may or may not have played this game before, but it's fun enough and I'll explain the rules.)**_

"It's called _**Grimm Hunter Junior**_ ," Yang told them as she started passing out cards from one pile while leaving the cards in the other pile completely. There are a couple of different cards types of cards that you can get. You can get equipment cards that you can wear, semblance cards while will give you certain boosts, and effect cards that you can use to turn the tide of battle."

"Seems straightforward so far." Jin said as he looked over the five cards he'd been given. "So in summary we take these cards, apply them to our character, use our effect cards to boost us when needed, fight off whatever we draw in the other pile, and take another treasure card to add to the pile."

"Yep, that's the basic gist of it... except for the twist. Even if it isn't your turn you can still play effect cards on your opponent and your opponent's monsters. You can curse your ally so that it will be harder for them to win a battle or you can make the monster stronger, but they'll get more rewards if they win the fight. Also, you can choose to help an ally if the both of you agree and the helper will get their treasure reward."

"Alright, it sounds basic enough," Ragna admitted. "So what's the point of this game anyways?"

"To get to level 10," Yang explained as she got out a stack of paper and wrote everyone's name down along with a '1' next to them. "You get a level every round you win, so theoretically you need to win 9 fights and the game's yours."

"So you you have to manage how often you help your allies... and how often you back stab them so that you reach victory first," Weiss summarized, a dark smile appearing on her face. "...Perfect."

' _Good lord, I'm screwed,'_ Ragna thought before glancing down and realizing he'd yet to look at his cards. ' _Well, let's do this...'_

"I'll go first," Ruby declared as she started putting her cards down, showing the equipment she was going to be using. It made sense for her to start since she was sitting to the left of Yang, the dealer. This would make the order her, Jin, Blake, Weiss, Ragna, and the finally Yang. "Alright, looks like I'm set up."

Glancing at Ruby's set of... equipment, Ragna quickly got the tone that this game was going for; completely nonsensical. Per example, her main weapon was ' _The Rubber Chicken Club._ ' Her armor was consisted of ' _Plaid Plated Armor'_ and _'Dynamite Footwear._ ' Even her given semblance was called _'Stinking Suppression.'_ As expected, each of these cards had a ridiculous illustration of said item or ability. Drawing the monster card from the pile, Ruby's opponent for this would be... _'_ _ **The Drunken Rolling Boar; Threat Rating 10.**_ '

' _Seriously, what did they get me into?_ ' Ragna thought to himself.

"My equipment plus my level puts me at a 9, but my semblance boosts me two ranks since the monster doesn't have a smell resistance, so I've won the match!" Ruby declared proudly as Yang changed her sister's level from a one to a two and Ruby drew her Treasure card from the pile. "Okay, that's my move. Your turn Jin."

"Don't speak to me with such familiarity, woman," Jin ordered harshly, causing Ruby to freeze while Yang and Ragna gave him heated glares. Ordering his cards around, Jin's score actually reached a higher 14 score. Drawing the monster card, the rank 8 ' _Scaredy Leo,'_ stood no chance as Jin drew the treasure card. "...I can still play a card after I've done my combat phase, correct?"

"I guess you can?" Yang told him with an odd and confused expression expression. "I mean it would make more sense to hold on to your card, but do what you want."

"...Oh brotherrrrrrrr," Jin said as an all too creepy smile grew on his face. "I'll attack you with my trap card... _THE CURSE OF SURPRISE SEX CHANGE_!" The table felt awkward as nearly all pairs of eyes in the library were directed at them.

"...Come again?" Ragna said as he took a look at the card of a cartoon hunter, understandably confused as they appeared to have sudden grown breasts underneath their clothing. Ruby was dying trying to contain her laughter at Ragna stared at the card blank faced. "You... son of a..."

"Wow, that's a bad card to get," Yang said as she looked over it. "You take a minus 5 for the next round of combat AND you lose a level since you're so off guard."

"So what? I'm level zero now?" Ragna demanded.

"Actually, the rules say you're dead," the blonde girl informed him.

' _I'm starting to like this game,'_ Jin thought sadistically as he looked at the cards in his hand.

"So I can stop playing?" Ragna asked hopefully.

"No, it means you lose all of your cards and have to draw a new set, restarting at level one," Ruby told him. Ragna's disappointment was all too apparent as he switched his cards out. "You know I was going to play this later, but I guess now will do. I'll play my _Charity Fortune_ treasure card on you which will automatically give you a free level."

"...You've got to be kidding me," Ragna muttered as he threw a card from his _new hand_ onto the table; ' _Explosive Gift.'_ This cursed card meant that if anyone ever gave its holder a gift, they'd lose two levels. "...So I'm dead AGAIN."

' _Stay out of my way woman, only I can kill brother!'_ Jin thought furiously. "I'll end my turn there."

' _And not a moment too soon,'_ Ragna thought. _'I haven't even gone yet and I've already died twice._ '

Organizing her armor and cards, Blake saw that she was at a 12 which was 10 below the powerful ' _ **Demonic Chicken**_ ' monster card that she drew. Looking closely, Ragna made now that the stronger cards could give strong boons, in this case an extra level was promised.

"Need a hand?" Yang offered. Blake nodded, bringing the total up to 25 with Yang's power involved. Now Blake reached the third level and was in the lead while Yang added an extra treasure card to her hand.

' _Okay, I didn't die that time,'_ Ragna thought to himself. As it then moved to Weiss who was sitting to his right. The Shnee heir's equipment only put her at a nine, but it was still enough to tie with the _**'Dancing Ursa'**_ monster card she drew.

"What happens if I tie with the monster?" she asked Yang, looking at scorekeeper for the rules.

"Nothing really; you don't get the level or the treasure, but you don't take the penalty of losing either," the blonde explained

Using this opportunity to her advantage, she decided she'd tried to strengthen the bond between the two here with the strongest families.

"Jin, could you lend me a tiny bit of-?" Weiss words died at Jin's fierce glare at the woman for even thinking to say his name. Nervously glancing around the table, no one was willing to step in. "I... I-!"

"Y'all are heartless," Ragna muttered organizing his cards (which weren't great, but they did the job). "I'll help her." Jin's glare only seemed in increase at that statement. Weiss gave him a thankful smile as she got the level and Ragna drew his treasure card. "...A lose a level curse card... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" he shouted, only to get smacked on the back of a head by a book.

"You're in a library, keep your voice down," a passing Goodwitch ordered as she used her semblance to bring the book back from smacking the Reaper. Ragna scowled at her, but merely grumbled under his breath as he switched out his cards from the hat trick death. He then set his equipment cards up for the next phase of the fight.

"Your turn, brother," Jin informed him before slamming a card down. "And this one is just what I need to confirm your end!" The card read _Giant_ , meaning when it was applied to a monster their threat increased by five levels. You'd get two extra levels if you managed to beat the thing, but it was large challenge to tackle on.

"I didn't even draw the monster, idiot," Ragna muttered as he drew the monster card. ' _ **Great Winged Shark**_ ,' with a challenge of 20, boosted to 25 due to Jin's boost. ' _I might be able to pull something off,'_ Ragna thought as looked down at his equipment cards, leaving all of the girls surprised at his high numbers. ' _I actually managed to get three pretty badass equipment cards, so I'm already at a 24 since this monster is weak to a lot of their effects... All I need to do is use this 'Dice Power' card, roll between a two and a six, and I'll get four levels and a treasure off this thing! If I roll a one, all that happens is we tie... Come on.'_ Ragna then grabbed his dice power card put it d-

"Ruby to the rescue!" the youngest huntress-in-training declared proudly. "If we both work together there's nothing we can't stop!"

"..." Ragna's hand then went to the _other_ card he held before placing it down. Everyone looked over it and saw that it was a curse card that had been activated. _'Deadly Pride: If another player even offers you help while you hold this card, you lose to whatever monster you were about to face. Since it's too busy snacking on your corpse, the other player can flee unscarred.'_ The image was even a crude one of someone holding knife to their throat while another person appeared to be bartering with them.

Translation: Ragna just lost his chance to gain four levels at take the lead, lost some of the best cards in the game... and died for the fourth time in the first round.

"Um... Sorry?" Ruby offered weakly.

"STOP HELPING ME!" Ragna shouted, only to get whacked in the back of the head by one of Goodwitch's books once more. "Guh!"

"I won't tell you again; be quiet," Goodwitch ordered once more with a scowl as she recalled the second book. Ragna meekly nodded and began drawing a new hand.

"So now it's my turn," Yang said as she drew her monster card. _'_ _ **Rider of Fright**_ ' appeared to be a jack-o-lantern based monster at only a challenge of 15, but that was still two above Yang's total.

"Do you want some help?" Blake asked, offering her assistance to her partner to return the favor.

"Nah, I've got this," Yang said with a bright smile, right before sending an evil one Ragna's way. "Or should I say _he's got this_?"

"Say wha-?" Ragna questioned as Yang brought her card down. ' _Unwilling Meatshield: Using the lowest leveled player at the table, you can force them to lose in your place. Then add three to your total power and fight the monster yourself.'_ "...I hate you."

"Aw, you don't really mean that," Yang told him with great snark as Ragna died yet again. Re-drawing his cards (and dying a sixth time due to yet another curse card), Ragna was currently at his wits end.

 _ **Meanwhile across the Kingdom**_

A traveling rouge paused in his walk as he glanced up to the sky. He was dressed in gray clothing and had dark spiky hair with a short five-o-clock shadow. He held his well sized sword over his shoulder while his short red cape fluttered in the light breeze. His gaze at the horizon wasn't directed anywhere particular, but it was intense.

"What's wrong with ya?" another voice asked. This one belonged to a much smaller figure, a cat of all things. It had an orange coat along with a double katana scabbard on its back. An old feudal styled eye patch covered its right eye, while its left appeared yellow and intelligent.

"Just a feeling I'm getting..." the man said with an enigmatic tone. "That right now somewhere and somehow... there's someone out there that currently has even worse luck than I do." Giving a chuckle he continued walking on. "And something tells me it's your apprentice."

"Yare yare, I'd be surprised if it wasn't," the cat muttered as he leaded the two onward.

 _ **Later -Beacon Academy-**_

"And with that bonus card I take my tenth level," Yang proudly declared as she looked over at the written totals.

"Thank god... It's over..." Ragna muttered as he slumped his head on top of the desk.

"So, what's the final result?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Let's see... after me is Blake who managed to get up to level 7." Aside from the few times Yang had lent her assistance, Blake hadn't been on the receiving end of any attention, hence how she avoided any back-stabs. "Ruby got to level six." Not too surprising, she had gotten some lucky draws, but she'd been more focused on helping everyone beat down the monsters and having fun instead of winning. "Tied at level five is Jin and Weiss, though Weiss did gain and lose more levels." Not too surprising, Weiss wasn't all that lucky and Jin was more focused on... other things. "And then we have-"

"I get it, I'm in last and I never gained a single level," Ragna muttered under his breath. "I couldn't even make a damn move in the first place."

"...True... but did you also know that you had 74 total deaths in this game?" Yang asked, leaving Ragna to pale.

"...That's it, I'm never playing cards again for as long as I live," the Reaper promised as he rose and grabbed his books.

"Oh brother, don't say that," Jin taunted. "Think of how strong we were able to bond over this. It makes me look forward to when the two of us can finally participate in mock battles."

"Tch," Ragna growled. "Yeah, guess I'll see you there." Jin only smiled at him and walked back to his own table.

"Sorry things turned out like this," Ruby apologized. "You... you came kind of close to being able to make a move at the end though... right?"

"Maybe," Ragna admitted, making sure Jin was out of earshot. "So... same time tomorrow?"

"Huh, you want to come back with us?" Yang asked. "Even after all of that?"

"Believe it or not, that still doesn't come close to the crap I've had to put up with from my own team," the Reaper explained. "So, we studying together or what?"

"That might not be the best idea," Weiss informed him as she glanced over her shoulder. "If you keep spending all of this time with us instead of your own group people are going to start gossiping."

"They're already gossiping," Ragna informed with a growl, much to Weiss's horror. "I've just decided that it isn't worth listening to. Let 'em say whatever the hell they want, I know what's really going on."

"...Guess we'll see you tomorrow then," Blake said as she gave the Reaper a small smile. This was the first time Ragna had actually seen her smile, it seemed... genuine.

"See you then," he promised as he headed out.

"...My sister is going to kill me when she find out about this," Weiss said to herself completely terrified.

"Aw, you'll be fine," Yang assured. "Come on, it's not like any of us is coming anywhere close to flirting with him."

"I dunno sis, you seemed to be coming close a couple of times," their team leader informed.

"It's called teasing Ruby," Yang protested. "But I mean, he's not a bad person... we can let him stick with us until he figures things out with his own team, right?"

"Given his situation, it would feel rather cruel to turn him away," Weiss admitted before sighing. "Why does it feel like we're adopting a stray puppy?"

"Stray _kitten_ ," Blake oddly protested.

 _ **Outside**_

It was already mid-evening as he made his way out of the library. Trying to keep his distance from the other students, he made his way over to the park bench for a brief respite of relaxation.

"I heard you caused quite the ruckus in the lunch room," Professor Ozpin said as he approached the Reaper. "...And just recently in the library."

"So... I'm getting detention then?" Ragna asked with more annoyance than worry.

"No, not today," Ozpin told him before giving a small chuckle. "Though I'd mind the way you act around Professor Goodwitch, I doubt that she's been enjoying your rebellious streak."

"Don't remind me," Ragna groaned. "So what are you here for then?"

"Just to extend an invitation," Ozpin told him. "I'm joining a few professors tonight for a small poker match and I was wondering if-"

"Yeah, no, thanks for asking," Ragna muttered. "I'm not letting you steal my money that easily."

"Simply a joke," Ozpin smirked.

"Would you have given me my money back if I'd said yes?" the Reaper demanded with a scowl.

"...I'd have taken it as a payment for the lesson," the headmaster informed as he walked away. "Luckily it seems that you learned this lesson the first time."

"You'd still be robbing a student blind," Ragna countered, but Ozpin didn't appear to have heard him as he was far too busy with his own thoughts.

' _This isn't good... His attitude needs too much improvement,'_ Ozpin thought as he headed back to his office. ' _I was hoping he could heal naturally given time, but with his brother's actions, his insistence to keep Tsubaki Yayoi in his team and the hell it brought him, not to mention his developing outcast status this could start turning into a problem; for all of us... At least I still have an idea on how to handle this._ '

 _ **Author's Note: (Review responses are back!)**_

 _ **Well that was a bit of a longer chapter than normal. All the same I'm pleased with how it came out. My rules of the card game I made for the RWBY-verse might not match exactly with Munchkin (it's been over a year since I've play), but I rolled with it. Here's the review response reboot, woo woo.**_

EpicLinkSam: YouTuber Ruby was spur of the moment, but I thought it would fit. I'll admit I can see where you got the Persona vibe, and I sort of had myself while writing the chapter. As far as the DLC, I thought it was a bad move for Arcsys to announce it so early, but I'm going to stick with it and hope for the best.

fernandonoguera99: Yeah, I've been making this story further and further humor based, and I think it's been working for the most part.

Star's Keyblade4114: I decided I'd add a bit of their character interaction this chapter, but I don't know when I'll do a JACK focused chapter.

Black sun 123: You seem to be on Team Ragna x Blake. Well, I think the dynamic could work. At this point, everything's just in a testing phase.

Medblare: A god? You're not giving Azzy enough credit...

The Unplanner: Wow, you make a lot of good points, thanks for the lengthy review. As far as the Human/Faunus thing goes I wasn't including genetics or anything like that and as of yet we've never seen a Beastkin with two different animals as parents. I just wanted to make a comparison ration.

TheMadDog: I'm aware, that was why he didn't step in against Cardin... though I can still think of Azrael as something as a bully at times. I dunno.

Travis Moon: Sad to say I've never gotten into that games series and I've already got a lot on my plate. Thanks for the idea, but you may want to search elsewhere.

 _ **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter cause I had some fun writing this one. I'll see you in the next chapter. Ciao!**_


	6. On Display

_**Crimson VI: On Display**_

"Finally; the last class before the weekend," Ragna muttered as he and the rest of his team piled into the lecture hall. "The only gripe I have is why did it have to be Goodwitch's class?"

"You still think she's got it out for you, don't you?" Kagura said before considering the professor. "But with those slim glasses, her bright hair all done up, and that form fitting uniform; that's one glare I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of."

"Dude... you're talking about our teacher here," Ragna reminded, his face steadily paling... though given his regular complexion it was somewhat hard to tell.

"And?" Kagura retorted. The Reaper had to fight the urge to gag.

"Just don't do anything that would get yourself in trouble," Jin told his teammate before glancing at his brother and smirking. "God forbid you actually manage get a worse reputation around the administration than one _certain student_."

"Shut your trap..." Ragna growled under his breath, leaving Tsubaki Yayoi to glare at him. "At least I'm _trying_ to make friends."

"Hey Ragna! Over here!" Turning his head, the Reaper saw Ruby waving to him while Weiss and Blake sat behind her in their seats. The spots around them looked like they'd provide enough room for him and his team along with (unfortunately) Team _JACK._

"And you're succeeding to some degree," Amane noted. "Congratulations."

"I'm not asking for a medal," Ragna muttered as he headed to his apparent seat. "...But thanks I guess." He didn't notice the dancer's mischievous smirk from behind him.

"TGIF! (Thank God It's Friday!)" Ruby greeted as Ragna sat beside her. Jin may have had a problem with said arrangement, but quickly managed to swoop in a grab the other seat beside his brother.

"Happy Friday," Ragna greeted in turn, trying to keep any attention away from Jin. "So where's Yang?"

"Ozpin's office," Blake informed. "She was called in at the end of the last class."

"Really? That sucks," the Reaper muttered. "What'd she do?"

"I doubt that they'd announce that she's in trouble so close to the weekend," Weiss said to him. "And she hasn't done anything different than what she's normally done... even if you include yesterday's card match."

"Don't remind me about that," Ragna muttered. "Over fifty deaths..."

"74 deaths brother; 30 of which we cause by your own bad luck and 29 of which I caused," Jin said. Ragna just stared at his younger sibling with a blank expression while Tsubaki looked upon 'her' Jin with a sense of awe and appreciation. "I kept track."

"'Course you would," Ragna muttered. "Guess we'll just have to ask her about it when we get out of class."

"I guess we'll have to," Ruby agreed. "Oh hey, there's Team _JNPR_."

"Right, that's the team that Jaune kid's leading," Azrael noted.

"Even though it should be Pyrrha in charge," Kagura told him

"I can see where your bias is coming from," Jin said, seeing Kagura's ways.

"What? You all know what she's capable of!" the Black Gale defended.

"I dunno, Jaune's probably pretty strong in his own way... though Kagura does have a point," Celica agreed as Ragna looked over the team.

"Right, so is Pyrrha the girl with orange or red hair?" Everyone in the group the turned to stare at Ragna. "...What? I don't know who I haven't met, alright?"

"Pyrrha's a celebrity huntress-in-training though!" Tsubaki scolded him. "There isn't anyone out there that doesn't know her name!"

"Well... Has Ragna ever eaten any of her cereal?" Ruby asked.

"I cook my own food," Ragna explained. "And I spent most of my earlier days out in the wilderness, so..."

"You have your answer," Weiss said. "And I have a new question, you can cook?"

"Well yeah, couldn't let my teacher make everything for me after all..." he smirked. "You should try my cooking some time, I make a killer s-"

"Salmon?" Everyone then glanced Blake, who once more had spoken out of turn to something fish related.

"...I was going to say steak, but how do you take your salmon?" Ragna asked the disguised cat Faunus with a cringing smile. ' _Seriously, how has no one else found her out yet?'_

As Jaune's team took their seats on the other end of the seats. Between them, Ragna saw that there was one other team here that he recognized, but sadly it was Team CRDL. Ragna saw that the team was looking at him with a clear stink eye, it was apparent that none of them had forgiven him for showing them up the day prior... though the giant welt on Cardin's jaw nearly put a smile upon the Reaper's face. Soon later, Goodwitch came into the classroom.

"I realize that this is the last class before the weekend, so with your cooperation and a little luck we'll be able to get the material covered quickly and I can send you off rather early today." This was rare stroke of luck for the students, seeing as how normally Goodwitch was the most uptight person at the Academy. "Now you've all been instructed about semblances in other classes, but it's time those abilities were put to the test. Starting next week, students will have the opportunity to participate in mock battles with one another."

' _And I've already got a wait list with people that have a bone to pick with me,'_ Ragna thought to himself before glancing back at his waist. ' _...Maybe I should start remembering to bring my sword with me._ '

"That being said, discussing semblances in theory and showing them off are two completely different subjects..." Goodwitch thought as she looked at the list in front of her. "Miss Rose then... your semblance is a good place to start. If you would?"

"Yep!" Ruby said, happy to show off as she quickly zoomed through the room and was standing right beside the instructor in next to no time at all.

"As you can see, she's been giving what's called a _Speed semblance_ ," Goodwitch explained. "Now, the name of the ability may speak for itself, but it's how you're able to utilize said ability than can make the difference."

"Yep, I'm pretty good at mixing things up," the youngest member of the academy declared proudly.

"All the same though, a semblance should be used with great caution," Goodwitch told the student. "What happens when you overuse your speed semblance then?"

"I... I get really tired," Ruby admitted. "Like, almost enough to pass out from exhaustion."

' _That's worrying,'_ Ragna thought to himself darkly. _'And knowing Ruby's hyper attitude, she's more likely than not to push herself too far without realizing it. I'll need to keep a closer eye on her if I'm going to... Well, more on that when it comes up.'_

"You can take your seat now," Goodwitch instructed and Ruby flew over with her amazing speed in the blink of an eye.

"What took you so long?" Ragna asked with light snark, earning him a solid punch on the arm from Ruby. "Kidding, kidding..."

"The strengths and weaknesses like what you were shown is a large reason for why we create teams, whether its so teammates can cover for their allies or they combine their semblances in order to create much stronger combinations." Noticing that Tsubaki Yayoi was raising her hand to ask a question, Goodwitch nodded.

"I've heard about the mock battles, but most of my questioned to our upperclassmen has only yielded stories on one-on-one duels. Is this actually a group exercise?"

"When we begin next week it will be a mix of both," the professor said as she looked over the schedule. "One Mondays and Fridays we'll be having single duels along with team matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays will be our random draw day of the week; where different students of different teams will be made into teams of two or four to help test their adaptability."

' _Random draw day,"_ Ragna thought to himself with a scowl. ' _Knowing my luck I'll be put on a team with Jin, Tsubaki, and Cardin; all of the people that want me dead… while Kagura hangs out with the girls... Dammit.'_

"That should actually be it for now," Goodwitch admitted. "There's not much of a point in covering essential information that you'll have to be taught again come Monday... So for now we'll cover a few different types of semblances in order to get a general understanding of them. Any volunteers?"

"Over here!" called the orange haired student from _Team JNPR_ said as she rose. "My name's Nora Valkyrie and my _Semblance_ lets me take lightning and turn it into a huge power booster! One bolt and I'm good to go!"

"An interesting ability, and how would you put that to use as a teammate?" the instructor asked, leading Weiss to raise her hand. "Miss Schnee?"

"I'd use lightning dust on her if that's what it would take to boost her power," the heir said proudly.

' _Well it's straight forward,_ ' Ragna thought from in front of Weiss while Ruby took notes beside him.

"Good, anyone else?"

"I have a useful _semblance_ too!" Celica declared. "My ability is pretty simple, but I can use it to heal my teammates back to full health and I naturally boost their own semblances just by being around."

"Her combat is nonexistent though," Jin admitted, leaving Celica to sweat nervously.

"Welllllll, that's not exactly _un_ true..." the redhead admitted.

"...Moving on," Goodwitch began before noticing a slender hand raised above. "...Mister Nishiki?"

"My ability is something to behold indeed, quite," the violet haired dancer said with a smile as he leaped from his seat and landed beside a somewhat annoyed instructor. "Though... I do think it's better that I explain it with a proper demonstration."

"I suppose if you must," Goodwitch said, granting Amane permission.

"Excellent," he said with a smile. "First, I'll need a volunteer!"

"Tch," Ragna grunted. "Wonder what kind of idiot's going to have to play guinea pig for-" His thoughts were cut off as strange ribbons from Amane's own clothes came undone and reached toward Ragna like tendrils wrapping around his limbs and torso to grab him. "...Why do I even bother?" Ragna questioned before he was pulled off and forced to the front of the class before the ribbons let go of him. "Can't I opt out?"

"Not if you want the credit for today," Goodwitch told him.

"Dammit," Ragna groaned. He then noticed Amane examining him rather closely. "...Please tell me you don't think I'm a good example and that you need someone else."

"Not quite; just that I think I'll need _another_ volunteer," Amane said before looking back to the stands and eyeing the young Miss Rose. "Only fair that I get a second person," Amane said as his ribbons shot out for yet another student. "Now my _Semblance's_ abilities permit me to-"

"Y-y-you have the wrong person!" a very un-Ruby voice shouted. Turning his head to his ribbons, Amane saw that he'd instead grabbed a crimson faced Weiss Shnee. "P-P-Put me down this instant!"

Looking back at the chairs, the dancer saw a terrified and shaking Ruby clinging to Blake like it was for dear life. Amane then considered that Weiss had been sitting behind her and Ruby's speed semblance could have allowed her to dodge the offhanded grab. Amane then looked back to Weiss who was tied up and continuing to scowl at him.

"...You'll do," the dancer finally said before placing the sputtering Weiss on the ground. "I suppose this is but a minor change from what I had planned anyways. So about my semblance; it has an odd quirk to it where I can't properly apply unless my opponent is weaker than me or completely at ease... Ragna at the moment is neither of these."

"Then why the hell did you grab me!?" Ragna shouted in annoyance.

"Well, I guess I could try to force you to relax," Amane threatened, though still in a very flowery manner.

"You and what army, punk?" the Reaper retorted with a scowl as the two glared at one another.

"Nora, try getting in between those two," Jaune suggested nervously. "...With the sparks they're sending with their glares they'll probably give a new height of a power boost."

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way," Nora told him with a sweatdrop.

"Well..." Amane began before smirking wickedly. "The other day Jin was showing me some rather... _odd_ foota-"

"Okay, okay! I'll relax... damn, you're evil." While the students glanced at each other in concern at what the dancer had been about the threaten him with, the Reaper then let out a breath of air and tried to stand at complete ease. "Will that do?"

"It's as close as I can expect you to get," Amane agreed before a ribbon from his clothes shot out. Before Ragna could protest, it turned into a point and stabbed him in the back of the neck.

"What the- What the hell!?" he shouted, though no blood emerged from the wound. The ribbon then retracted, though Ragna didn't feel any different.

"And... perfect," Amane said with a smile before grabbing his scroll out and tapping a few buttons. "Now... let the demonstration... BEGIN!"

 **(Cue** _Voices Of Spring Waltz_ By Johann Strauss Jr.)

"This... music," Weiss thought aloud to herself. "Is this a waltz?" She then noticed Ragna making his way towards her. "What are you-?" The Reaper then grabbed and raised her left hand with his right hand while putting his left hand on her hip. "R-Ragna!" a once more crimson faced Weiss shouted as Ragna started to guide her in the dance. "L-LET GO OF ME!"

"I'M NOT DOING THIS DAMMIT!" Ragna shouted as the dance continued on. "You think I know how to Waltz!?"

"What do you mean you're not doing this!?" Wiess shouted.

"This... IS MY SEMBLANCE'S POWER!" Amane shouted with much flair. "At the sound of music, the target has no choice but to dance in rhythm." Amane then closed his eyes and smiled sweetly to the students in their seats. "It's a unique ability, is it not?"

Every student was clinging to the wall farthest from Amane completely terrified, trying to get as much distance from the strange man as they could... well Azrael was still sitting in his place, but hey he's Azrael.

"Hey..." Ragna asked from where he was still guiding Weiss in the steps of the dance. "...How long does this last?"

"Hmmm, about fifteen to twenty minutes," Amane told him.

"FIFTEEN TO TWENTY!?" Ragna and Weiss shouted in unison.

"...Class dismissed," Goodwitch said with annoyance as she headed for the door. "If anyone else wishes to leave, feel free. Otherwise, you can stay and watch the chaos unfold."

"Help us darn it!" Ragna shouted, but the teacher merely left the room. With a sigh he looked at his apparent dance partner. "...Looks like the two of us are here for the long haul."

"...You're lucky I know how to waltz," Weiss told him as she now followed Ragna's rhythm instead of simply being dragged along with Ragna.

"That's more like it," Amane said with a smile as he noticed Jin up in the class room seats, absolutely livid. "Oh, is someone jealous?"

"Errr... I'm leaving," the blonde declared as he headed out of the classroom with many of the other students, but not before turning back to his brother. "...Monday then, I'll get what I want."

"That just ain't healthy," Kagura muttered as he watched the two before relaxing in his seat. "Might as well watch, it's not bad of a show." Tsubaki didn't say anything, merely standing and leaving the classroom, most likely to follow after Jin. "Someone's a critic."

As the two danced on Amane was watching them, joyfully instructing the two as they danced. Ragna tried his best to keep his head down, but likely as a result of Amane's semblance he couldn't turn away from Weiss.

"You... you don't have to look at my ugly mug ya know? _You_ can still move," he decided to remind with a small blush on his face.

"It... It's bad manners not to look at your partner while you dance with them," Weiss said before she glanced back to her teammates. "At least Yang isn't here right now. Her commentary would make this nearly impossible for either of us."

"...Ruby's still recording the whole thing to show her later, isn't she?"

"You know her too well to think otherwise."

As the two continued in their dance, Amane was forced to change tracks for them every so often so the dance wouldn't grow stale. This would also change the two's rhythm and performance with each Waltz that was played. The two did this for several songs... which eventually made Ragna grow suspicious.

"Wait, how long have we been doing this?" he finally decided to ask.

"Um..." Ruby said as she finally looked at her scroll's clock. "...Close to half an hour now."

"Half an-!?" Ragna said abruptly stopping the dancing and letting go of Weiss who slowly backed away in shock. Ragna then realized he finally had control over his own body and glared at Amane. "Why the hell didn't you stop us!?"

"Well you two looked like you were having so much fun," the dancer said as he let the music continue. "Though I have to say I'm impressed, I thought you'd have stopped when my semblance's effects on you wore off three minutes in."

"Three minutes!?" Weiss shouted as Ragna's complexion grew dark. "You told us it'd last for fifteen at least!"

"I wanted to see how far your uncovered ability to dance could push you. Also, if you _really_ think about it, didn't I say it was triggered by music? If I'd really wanted to, I could have stopped the dancing any time I wanted," Amane explained as he headed through the doors. "Until next time, my dears."

"Dammit, I was played like a complete fool," Ragna swore at himself angrily.

"We _both_ were," Weiss told him before sighing. "Let's just agree to never talk about this again and move on with our lives, alright?" Ragna didn't answer, so Weiss started heading out the classroom doors.

"Hey..." Ragna finally began, cutting through his silence.

Looking back at her apparent dance partner, Weiss saw that Ragna was nervous, but had a small and sad smile upon his face. It was a smile of someone that was fighting to make the best of a lousy lot he'd been given.

"...Thanks for the dance," he said, attempting to give a formal bow.

"...Your form needs work, but I suppose it wasn't all bad," the nicknamed Ice Queen said in turn as she curtsied with a satisfied smile.

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **Damn, a lot of comments I've been getting on this story have actually been predicting some of the things I'm setting up for. I won't say which ones, but don't be too surprised if your posted idea turns to a reality. Anyways, the reviews.**_

 _DreadGrimReaper:_ Stray Kitten, not cat.

 _ENDDRAGON369:_ Depending on how people react to these and upcoming chapters, he might.

 _EpicLinkSam:_ Then I have good news, expect MUCH more of those in the future.

 _TheUnplanner:_ I did make a few alterations on the Munchkin rules, but my usual experience isn't that far off from Ragna's... My friends always gang up on me.

 _Wlyman2009_ : Yeah, just need to put Ragna in his element.

 _Star's Keyblade4114:_ Tsubaki was about to be kicked out of the academy, but Ragna actually made a point to keep her on. As for Jin, this is just what he's like.

 _Medblare:_ Apparently more people play Munchkin that I had thought.

 _Travis Moon_ : I'm afraid I don't know either of those series... so sorry again.

 _fernandonoguera99:_ It's all about finding a balance, something that I've been working on as of late.

 _Guest42:_ Thanks for not including explicit spoilers. Try to keep those to a minimum.

 _ **Until next time everyone. No February break for me! Ciao!**_


	7. Fight Through

_**Crimson VII: Fight Through**_

"Shut it..."

"I'm just saying you didn't look that bad out there, it's a compliment."

"We don't want to hear it from you."

"Sheesh, try to be a nice guy and this is what it gets you..."

"You're mocking us under your breath, I know you are..."

"I thought you looked good out there, Ragna. You too Weiss."

"Thank you Ruby, we're glad you think so."

"Why does she not get any sass!?"

"Because unlike the womanizer we're dealing with, she's both innocent and genuine," Ragna told off Kagura while Ruby made a mocking face at the _Black Gale_. Currently he, Azrael, Noel Kagura, Celica, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were walking through the hallways of Beacon academy. Goodwitch's class had just ended... well the chaos caused by one Amane Nishiki had finally ended.

"So... does anyone have plans for this weekend?" Noel asked, trying to defuse the situation.

"Hit the gym, maybe do a few million reps," her partner, Azrael, said with a smirk. "You know; take it easy."

"Coming from you, that workout is the equivalent of saying you'll be sleeping all weekend," Ragna muttered.

"Well then, what's on your plate?" Kagura asked with a smirk. "Going to practice your dancing a little more?"

"Oh leave him alone, we've both been through more than was necessary today," Weiss Shnee told off the dark haired student only to see that she was getting a call. Opening up her scroll, she rolled her eyes before quickly closing it.

"...Shouldn't you get that?" Ragna asked her skeptically.

"I'll call them back later," Weiss declared, sending her dance partner a _drop it_ message.

"Well, I'm planning on finally hitting the town, seeing the sights... getting to know the local fauna and flora," Kagura said with a confident smile.

"So... you're going to a flower shop and a petting zoo?" Celica asked him naively.

"He means he's going to try head into town and make an idiot of himself trying to pick up chicks," Ragna explained with a growl.

"He's going to pick up baby chickens?" she asked again. "Is he doing it at the petting zoo he's going to?"

"Like this pervert would be that innocent," the Reaper told her, a little of put by her innocence.

"Whoa, hostile," Kagura noted. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You know damn well what you did; your room was right next to mine!"

Though everyone at present was left in the dark, Kagura had to take only a minute to figure it out, but when he did his face became a sharp and challenging smirk. "What's wrong? Feeling inadequate?"

"You wish, asshole," Ragna said as he glared back, the sparks between the two's scowls were absolutely crackling.

"And you're telling me you can't absorb that?" Jaune Arc asked from the side lines as he watched from behind a pillar.

"You're starting to convince me that I can..." Nora noted as she could practically feel the electric waves. As they peered on and as Ragna and Kagura continued to glare at each other, another individual came into the fold.

"...Not a moment too soon," she thought aloud to herself with a sigh as she walked up. "Hey guys, having a heart to heart?"

"Yang!" Ruby called, which was enough for the glaring match to stop, though Ragna was still feeling beyond pissed.

"What are you doing out so early? Is class already over?" she asked them with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Yeah, Goodwitch let us out early," her younger sister explained before she grabbed out her scroll. "But you missed something completely hilarious!"

"Here we go..." Ragna and Weiss both sighed in unison, only to stare blankly at each other when they'd realized that they'd done so.

Surprisingly, Yang didn't comment as she watched the entire video and Ruby provided her with the context that had lead up to the events. She didn't even seem to smile at Amane's reveal of his semblance's functions after Ragna and Weiss had finished dancing.

"So, what do you think?" Ruby asked, who was also caught a little off guard at Yang's silence.

Yang didn't respond right away, instead appearing to be deep in thought. When she finally did speak it was directed solely at the Reaper. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"You... you mean in private?" To say Ragna was... surprised would be an accurate statement. "I mean... sure, I guess?"

"C'mon there's no reason to be so nervous, I don't bite," Yang told him with a smirk.

"I'D KILL YOU IF YOU DID!" came a sudden call.

"SHUT IT JIN!" Ragna shouted at his hidden brother as Yang guided him down the hallways.

"Whoa, deja vu," Ruby noted as she remembered back when Yang had forcefully introduced the two.

"Why do you think she needs to talk to him in private anyways?" Noel asked.

"Maybe it's to apologize for the card game yesterday, she did seem to cause him more than a little hardship on that one," Weiss suggested.

"He'd really oughta quit whining, I'd have fought through a thousand Grimm to get in his shoes," Kagura muttered.

"And the award for biggest masochist goes to..." Blake began humorlessly.

"I didn't mean that part..." he tried to defend himself as Ragna and Yang continued to talk. "And now he's speaking one on one with a girl. Guess some people just get all of the luck in life."

"You'd be surprised," Azrael and Noel said in unison, thinking back to Ragna's partner.

"I'm sure Ragna does fine, even with his stroke of bad luck," Celica told them.

"Little more than a 'stroke' at this point," Ruby thought aloud as she watched Yang give a good tap to Ragna's chest with the back of her fist. Ragna was awkwardly scratching the back of his head while Yang was smirking at him. "Huh? Looks like their done talking."

"And not a moment too soon," a still bitter Kagura said as the two came back. Before either of them could say anything, he decided to cut in. "Do you two have your date all set up then?" he asked heatedly. Ruby, Weiss, Noel, and Blake were surprised at the abruptness of his words while Azrael swore he heard a katana slowly unsheathe.

"She wishes," Ragna said with great sarcasm, earning him a rather powerful jab on his arm from the blonde. "I'm just doing her a favor, something that she keeps insisting that I'm the only one that can help her with this... yet I'm being kept in the dark."

"Just don't want you to overthink it," Yang told him with a pleasant smile. "Plus, with everything you've had to go through this week you're on track to burn out before we even get to mid-terms. Take a night off, enjoy yourself. Those books will be waiting for you when you get back. What else were you going to do?"

"Find a place to crash and get a night where I don't need to sleep with one eye open?" Ragna offered, remembering Tsubaki's murder boner for him.

"You can sleep in our room Ragna! I'm sure we can make room," Celica offered.

"That's even worse!" he shouted.

"No kidding, you and your brother in the same room is something I'm not looking forward to watching," Kagura noted. "I mean Amane might be into it, but that would just make it even creepier."

"WHY are you fueling my nightmares? WHY?" Ragna shouted as even Azrael shuddered at that thought.

"So that your luck evens out," Kagura muttered.

"Evens out? You son of a..." Ragna growled, only to be slapped on the back of the head by Yang.

"Hey, hey, he's just jealous you're spending the evening with a hottie like me," she told Ragna to try and calm him down, which Kagura couldn't deny. "Just meet me at the school gates at seven tonight, I'll get us to where we need to go from there."

"...Fine, I'll see you then," Ragna said as he headed off, only pausing to kick his leg harshly into a nearby bush and hear his brother's suddenly grunt of pain come from within. "And YOU'RE staying here dammit."

"So... you're doing this why exactly?" Azrael asked bluntly. "Won't this just cause more problems for the guy?"

"Just... reasons," Yang told him sadly as she watched Ragna walk away, grumbling to himself the whole while.

 _Flashback -Ozpin's Office-_

"Thanks for coming here on such short notice," the Head of Beacon said as he sat behind his desk. "Can I get you something to drink? Tea, coffee?"

"I'm fine," Yang told him. "Really, I'm just confused why you'd wanted to see me during class."

"It's a... precaution that I'm afraid I'm going to need to take," the professor said as he rose from his seat and headed towards the window. "Tell me, what do you know about the leader of Team _RAIN_?"

"Ragna? I haven't been with him that much, you'd have to talk to my sister on that one," Yang explained. Ozpin didn't respond, so Yang took that as a sign to elaborate. "He's... pretty tightly wound, but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy, just someone that's gotten a bad draw out of life."

"That would be an understatement," Ozpin told as he continued to look out the window. Yang was about to question what he meant, but Ozpin was already continuing. "At the very least I would assume so; I haven't any ideas of the more specific details of his past and your uncle didn't say anything in his letter to inform me."

"Uncle Qrow? What does he have to do with Ragna?" Yang asked, though remembering that Ruby had told her that Ragna did seem to know their 'drunkle' (drunk uncle).

"It's thanks to Qrow's letter of referral that Ragna managed to secure a place in the academy's entrance exam, before passing said exam despite... several clear problems showing. One of which I've brought you before me to address; his attitude."

"No offense, but I'd think you'd have bigger things to worry about." The professor didn't seem upset at her words, so Yang continued. "Maybe he's got a foul mouth on him, but I don't think he's trying cause trouble or anything like that. Like I said, he's gotten a bad draw."

"You misunderstand, it's not the amount of trouble that he gets into, but there is a connection to his _bad draw_ ," Ozpin then turned back to face Yang. "Tell me, Miss Xiao Long; what attracts the Grimm?"

"Well... I know of a couple of types of bait that are supposed to be in the works, not to mention there are probably a few types of semblances that can do the job," Yang thought.

"True, but there's another thing that outclasses those on every level," the professor said, turning deadly serious. " _Negative Emotions_ ; emotions of fear, rage, or malice... The Grimm are attracted to them like your sister's addiction to cookies."

 _'If he's even halfway serious in his comparison, that's more than a little worrying,_ ' Yang thought. "So what, we're going to have a hoard of Grimm attacking all of us simply because Ragna's acting a little gloomy?"

"Under normal circumstances not even a hundred people engulfed in malice would be enough to cause a significant difference in Grimm activities, but Ragna..."

"...He's not normal... is he?" Yang asked, the temperature in the room seeming to slowly decrease.

"...I've spent countless hours observing his footage from his entrance exam, watching his complexion and the resulting Grimm activities that came soon afterwards. It's still positively staggering to me now, in all of my years I have never seen anything like this; one student's slightest shift in attitude was enough to send the Grimm barreling towards him from literal miles away. Suddenly an area of the forest which had been barren of Grimm for years was so full of them it looked like the occasional tree emerging from a rolling ocean of darkness."

"But, if that's true then we'd practically have the Grimm at the doors of the academy at this very moment!" Yang shouted at Ozpin. "His own partner wants to see him dead, the entire school thinks that he's some perv loser, he's always the butt of every joke, and his brother has some sort of... I don't even want to know!"

"You're right, the Grimm would have been here by now if he'd let his emotions leak through," Ozpin said with a sigh. "I can only assume that he's had training in protecting himself from this, perhaps its why he tries to resort to vulgarity and more... immediate tactics instead of harboring grudges. "

"Jeeze, how do you even get negativity this strong?" Yang asked.

"I haven't the slightest," Ozpin said as he shook his head. "It may have something to do with his as of yet revealed semblance, but at this point most of the evidence seems to point to a tragedy in his past." Ozpin finally turned to look at Yang. "The good news is I've discovered a solution, but I need your help."

"I... I feel for Ragna, especially if you put it like that," she admitted. "But wouldn't my sister be better for something like this? Those two are already close enough to be best friends. Hell, he even struggles not to smile when she's around."

"It's true that Miss Rose has gotten close to him, but it's possible that might just be what has kept his emotions from attracting an army of Grimm thusfar," Ozpin explained, his voice growing quiet. "And that's a chance I just can't take."

"...What do you need me to do?" Yang asked, deciding she'd help if she could.

"Simply put, I want you to do what you've been doing, but make a point to spend time with Ragna when you can whether as a group or one on one," Ozpin told her. "Out of all of the students close to him, you seem to have the most... let's call it _spunk_." Yang's face alone was enough to make Ozpin chuckle. "Well, whatever you'd like to call it, I'm simply hoping some of it starts to rub off onto Ragna... he won't be able to keep that lock on his emotions forever."

"And that's it? I just need to cheer him on?" Yang asked.

"If you'd like to put it simply, then yes," Ozpin then grabbed out a few documents from his desk. "Though you're the prime candidate, I have a few other students I could ask to do this if you're not comfortable with the idea-"

"No, Ragna's been helping Ruby out and she's been doing really well in all of her classes since they've started studying together... even our _Ice Queen_ and Blake are starting to open up a little more when he's around... I'll return the favor for him."

"Good," Ozpin asked before letting out a breath of relief. "I'll have to ask that you don't tell the rest of your team or Ragna himself of the reasons for your actions just yet... Let's just try to make everything as stable as we can first and then disclose the information once he's found his center."

 _End of the Flashback_

"I hope this goes well," Yang thought aloud as she sat on her motorcycle and waited for Ragna. "...Maybe I should've made a point to draw him aside and ask him out without the others trying to watch us. Nah, then things would've been awkward later if they found out we went somewhere together. 'Sides, that mess was on Kagura, not me."

Despite talking to herself, Yang was confident that she could do what was needed. If things went well, not only would Ragna be away from the collective pain in his rear from all of the people that seemed to having nothing better to do than bother him, but he'd also be put in (what Yang hoped would be) his element and he'd get a chance to enjoy himself. Ruby had likely wanted to try and tag along, but Yang had insisted that (without revealing any Ozpin's plan) she just wanted to give Ragna a win.

"You have a motorcycle?" Ragna was wearing his usual red and black clothing as he casually approached Yang at 6:58.

"Do you ever change out of that clothing," Yang asked, before considering where she was taking him.

"Not if I can help it; this jacket was a pretty important gift, nice and durable to boot," the Reaper told her before returning his attention to the motorcycle. "So... you're driving us?"

"That's the plan... you're not scared of riding on a motorcycle, are you?" Poor planning on Yang's part, but to her relief Ragna merely gave her a shrug.

"First time for everything," he told her as Yang mounted her motorcycle. Ragna then got on behind her and held onto the back metal for support. The ride wasn't too... eventful, well except for- "Dammit, there goes another round."

"You're using your scroll?" Yang asked as she glanced behind her (the two had been stopped by a red light at that point).

"Yeah, Ruby told me about this card game on your scroll that's free to download. I've trying to win a single match just so I can break my losing streak... It's not going well."

"Figures, but is this really the time to do it?" Yang asked him. She wasn't exactly taking it slow while she was driving and Ragna wasn't holding on to much of anything for support.

"Eh, it is if I want to make the reference."

"Reference?" Yang asked as the light turned to green and she started moving again. "What are you talking abo-?"

 **"CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES BITCHES!"** Ragna shouted as the two roared down the city streets.

 _ **(Author's Note: My respect to LittleKuriboh for essentially starting the anime abridged trend)**_

 _Later –Edge of Town-_

It didn't take much longer for the two to get to where Yang was going, to which Ragna immediately started to get a worse feeling than usual. The two were in front of the small out of the way bar at the city's edge. Already Ragna was seeing a few people that were looking that the both of them with clear disdain in their eyes and seemed ready for a fight.

"Yang... You sure this is the place that we're trying to get to?" Ragna asked as Yang parked her motorcycle. "That thing's going to get stolen if you leave it here."

"Trust me, the people around here know better than to steal from bikes in front of the bar," she said before she started heading up to the place.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," he warned as he tried to get between Yang and her destination. "What the hell are we here for? Don't tell me you brought me this whole way to sneak a beer kegger back to school."

"Come on, it's not anything _that_ illegal," Yang told him, worrying Ragna with how she stressed the obviously operative word. Before he could stop her, she then headed into the bar. Groaning as he knew this was likely more trouble, he had little choice but to follow her.

The inside of the bar was about what you'd expect. A wood and brick building with plenty of rough looking individuals downing whiskey and beer. The bartender standing behind the bar was giving them both the stink eye, but when Yang pointed downwards with her index and middle finger, the man gave a shrug as he pointed her to a door that said ' _Employees Only.'_

' _Does she work here part-time or something?'_ Ragna considered as Yang opened the door to the small employee's lounge. She then headed over to what looked like a coat closest and... revealed a staircase leading down below ground. By this point nothing about this was sitting well with Ragna. "Yang, wait."

"Come on, we're just about there," the blonde told him. "You'll get your answers in a second, I promise."

"Is that before or after I lose a kidney?" he demanded with a glare. "I'm already in enough hot water with Goodwitch that I get glared at her every time she passes me in the hallway, if this shady crap just puts me in detention for a month then-"

"Do you trust me?" Yang interrupted, stopping Ragna cold. "Do you, Ragna, trust me?"

"...If I say no, can we go home?" he asked hopefully, only for Yang to roll her eyes as she grabbed his arm. "Shit."

As the two headed down the steps, Ragna could swear he was starting to hear loud music. He figured that maybe Yang was just taking him to a secret club... but that was before he saw the 30 foot wide fighting ring waiting for them with two heavily muscled men striking each other with trained brutality. It was a large caged arena with several sets of bleacher seats set up around it. There were loud speakers adjusted around the room and playing loud rock music. In short, Ragna was looking at an underground fight club.

"...You could've let me know about this ahead of time and saved me some stress," Ragna muttered as he let out a breath of relief. "So, we're here to watch a fight?"

"Hardly, you're the one fighting," Yang told him, leading him to scowl. "Well... both of us are. There's a tag team event going on tonight and I needed a partner."

"...And you're sure they let men and women fight together?" Ragna questioned leading Yang to glare at him. "I don't know the rules! Besides, Azrael would've-"

"-Been a little too excited about this," Yang told him with a smirk. "Come on, just this once alright?"

"...Fine, but you're buying me dinner for this."

"Only if we win, but I've seen you fight before and you've got some skill with your fists. We'll be a shoe-in if you're as good as I think you are."

"So I can't use any weapons. Looks like I'll need somewhere to put my..." Ragna was about to finish before deciding to glance behind him.

 _"You think he's ever going to remember to take this thing with him?"_ _Azrael asked back in Team RAIN's room as he looked over Bloodscythe_ _which had been leaning against Ragna's_ _bed for the last week._

 _"At the moment? I doubt he remembers it exists," Tsubaki muttered as she worked on her studies while Noel continued to practice her poetry on her bed._

"Come on, let's go get signed up," Yang said as she headed over towards the front desk that was headed by a tall man with a balding head. "We're here for the challenge, I hear we're supposed to be tonight's main event _."_

"You two are the challengers? I was expecting someone a little older," he said as he looked over the two. "So from the phone call I got earlier today... Yang Xio Long?" Yang nodded. "And Ragna... Kisaragi?"

"What the-!? You used Jin's last name!?" Ragna demanded as he glared at Yang.

"What? He's your brother, isn't he?" Yang asked.

"I'M adopted! H-He's been adopted by a well-known family!" Ragna shouted, causing the blonde's normally cheery smile to turn guilty for a moment. "Just take the last name out, will ya?"

"...Sure thing kid," the announcer said, feeling very awkward with the two teenagers in front of him. "Anyways, changing rooms are in the back; just find a set of shorts that fit you and head to the waiting rows."

"If it's all the same to you, I'll keep wearing what I've got on now," he defended.

"It ain't, you gotta fight bare-chested and with the shorts we provide. This thing may be underground, but we still got rules for you to follow. Got it?"

"Tch, _now_ she's getting me to strip," Ragna grumbled under his breath.

"Aw, is someone shy?" Yang taunted, only to notice her partner for the evening glancing at his right arm. "...Ragna?"

"It's nothing, let's just get this over with."

"Hey c'mon, you'll have fun with this," Yang assured him. Ragna wasn't so sure.

Fortunately there were no other fighters in the changing rooms, so he at least had complete privacy when he went into the changing room and there was a large collection of shorts his size, freshly washed and ready to be worn. Choosing a red pair with thorny black symbols on the sides (because of course), Ragna swapped his regular gloves for fighter authorized ones, stored his clothes and his scroll inside of one of the lockers, and grabbed a black hooded robe to wear between his fights and slung it on. Heading out the doorway and towards the ring, he saw Yang waiting for him on one of the closest bleachers.

"...I expected you to be scrawny under all of that baggy clothing," she muttered as she got a good look at Ragna's eight pack, the tattoo on his chest, and his toned legs since the cloak was only coating his arms. Yang herself was wearing a set of brown fighter shorts and yellow fighter's bra. She was barefoot like Ragna and had grabbed a white robe to wear between her fights though she wasn't currently wearing it. Yang noticed he was looking at her outfit and the amount of skin it showed off. "Hee, see something you like?"

"Tch, I'm not Kagura," Ragna muttered as he took a seat beside her and next to another fighter who appeared to have just finished his match. The man only scoffed as he got a good look at the younger brawler beside him, seeing him as nothing more than a fresh child with nothing more than dreams too big for him to handle.

"And I never said that you were, but it doesn't mean you can't appreciate a good scene." Ragna wisely chose not to comment, so Yang decided she could afford to poke a little fun at him. "After all, view's pretty good from where I'm sitting." His face turning as red as a tomato, the Reaper turned away so that Yang couldn't see him.

"Kids today," the fighter beside Ragna chuckled. Not long later, the current fight was finished with a time out. A quick clean of the ring to mop up the blood later and it was as good as new. An announcer then went to the center of the ring, holding a microphone so that everyone could hear him.

"All right you louts! We've had some pretty impressive fights so far tonight, but now we've got our main event of this evening! I'm telling you, I laughed when I heard that some girl from Beacon and her boy toy wanted to take on our champions, but it looks like the damned kids are serious! Let's all show 'em the true fighters of the UNDERGROUND RUUUUUUUUMBLE!" The crowd's cheering and the jeering at Ragna and Yang was overwhelming. "...Sponsored by Junior's."

"Tch, of course that idiot would have a stake in this," Yang grumbled before turning cockily to Ragna "Looks like he's putting the crowd against us."

"Can we just get the damn fights started already? Listening to this guy is probably going to be more painful than being punched in the gut."

"Shh, he's going to explain the rules."

"Don't need 'em, just punch the other guy enough times and they won't get up," Ragna said nonchalantly.

"Just listen to what he's got to say so we don't get disqualified."

"Now then, onto the rules since it's been a good while since someone was foolish, I mean _brave_ enough to try and take on our champions. The champion match is going to involve two fighters on each team, a lead and then a follower to go in after the team's lead has been defeated. Any semblances are legal, but killing is... shall we say frowned upon."

"Think he means it?" Yang asked her partner.

"More than likely, a death here would cause too large of a disturbance and get the cops or a Hunter here. They could try to sweep it under the rug, but there'd always be that threat."

"You seem to know about this quite a bit..."

"Qrow taught me a couple of things about underground fight clubs," Ragna said, revealing more on his connection with Yang's uncle. "Never really took it heart, but I guess back then I didn't know what his niece was like."

"Ouch, subtle burn there."

"Since this is for the championship, a time out is not an option and there are no bells to split the fights. You come in here and you're in till you give up or get knocked out with the exception of a short five minutes break between each round," the announcer instructed. "And their prize money? 1000 Platinum Lien to split between our winners if they manage to take down our amazing champions!"

 _ **(Author's Note: I combined Lien and Platinum dollar to create to a new form of currency)**_

"Damn, now I know why you wanted me here," Ragna muttered as he thought the idea over. "500 Platinum to each of us... what would I even do with that kind of cash?"

"So you're interested in winning now?" Yang realized, and Ragna couldn't help but nod. "Cool, mind if I go first? I've been fired up for this for a while now."

"Ladies first I guess," Ragna said with a shrug as he leaned back on his seat and his partner rose to her feet. "Just try and leave _something_ for me to do."

"And tonight's first challenger is ready and looking for a match!" the announcer shouted. "On the challengers side, we've got the _Blond Bomber,_ the _Femme Fatal_ , the _Beauty Bruiser_ , Yang Xio LOOOOONG!" There were a only few cheers for Yang as she steeped up to the ring, a couple of whistles for her as well. "And defending her place at the top of our bracket, the _Bone Breaker, The Ground Shaker,_ and the _Name Taker..._ Azula Icaruuuuuuuuussss!" The woman that entered the cage on the other side was a few inches shorter than Ragna and had her blue hair done up behind her in a ponytail. Her shorts and top were both black while small bandages covered her checks a little below her eyes.

' _Yang might have trouble with her,'_ Ragna thought as he looked over both women, judging the difference in size, toning, and posture. ' _...But I get the feeling it's going to come down to our semblances most of all... Which is going to be a problem on my end._ '

(Cue _Street Fight V_ _ **Cammy's Theme**_ )

"Hope you're ready for a good fight, champ!" Yang said with energy as she stepped to the center and put her fist out to bump them with her opponents before the match. The stoic faced Azula on the other had didn't look half as interested and only put her fists up to get ready for the fight. "Okay then... serious time."

"ROUND 1! FIGHT!" the announcer shouted and the match began as a bell was struck by a hammer.

Taking the first strike for herself, Yang rushed forward and delivered a powerful punch. Azula managed to guard against the attack and only lurched slightly as a result. Forcing the attack off her, Azula made a short leap into the air and delivered a powerful jab with her fist which Yang was force to guard against. Quickly transitioning as soon as she landed, Azula then spun into a high aimed kick that struck Yang guard. The force was powerful enough to get the blond to slide back slightly and nearly sent her off balance. Asserting her footing, Yang roared right before she rushed back and threw a solid punch which was mirrored by Azula as the two fists struck.

Yang then went for a grapple to throw her opponent and get some distance, but Azula managed to duck under the grab right before sweeping her leg around and send Yang off balance. Trying to catch the blonde in air with a devastating punch, Yang managed to twist her body in mid-air and push off the punch, nullifying the attack and giving her a bit of distance where she then landed on her feet. Switching back the offensive, Yang went back to a right hook which was blocked by Azula before she bounced to the other side, sliding past her opponents guard and delivering a left hook to the ribs.

"...Is that all?" Azula finally spoke, surprising Yang as her opponent wasn't hurt much by the attack. With a devastating punch screaming to the air towards her, Yang had no choice but to guard before she was blasted off her feet and sent straight into the cage wall. She didn't even have time to recover as Azula was already upon her, sending shot after shot at Yang while she tried desperately to guard, a wild blue glow starting to come off her opponent.

"THERE IT IS!" the announcer shouted as the crowd started cheering for the knock-out. "Azula's classic _COBALT ASSAULT!_ Her _Strength_ based semblance puts the power of a bullet train into every one of her Swarmer styled attacks! Effective simplicity at it's finest! Looks like it's all over for our blonde contestant folks!"

"Tch!" **whack** "Don't-" **whack** "sell me-" **whack** "short!" Yang protested as she was repeatedly punished by blow after blow by her contender. She tried to duck against one of the punches, only to dive right into it and take a heavy hit to her face which caused her nose to start bleeding. Azula then went for a follow up strike to Yang's head, narrowly missing...

...but catching a few strands of Yang's hair.

"... _YOU'RE DEAD!_ " Yang shouted with blood lust in her eyes as a fiery aura surrounded her. Azula tried sending another punch, but Yang held the attack back effortlessly. Going to knee the blonde in the gut, the attack was once again deflected as Yang blasted it back with her first before hitting Azula square in the gut. Striking her back a short distance and appearing to deal damage.

"Wh-what is this!?" the announcer shouted as he watched on while Yang charged Azula to keep up her offensive. "It looks like our challenger has activated her _Semblance!_ " A painful crack was heard as one of Yang's punches managed to hit its hit Azula's face dead on. "She's driving Azula back! Unbelievable!" Another crack, this time as Azula's leg managed to catch Yang in the ribs. "But our defending champ is fighting hard to keep her ground in this intense struggle!"

One particularly devastating trade-off of blows later, Yang and Azula had both managed to back off a decent distance and now both girls were staring each other down to stay ready for the finish.

"You're not bad... but we can still beat you both," Azula told Yang as she kept her aura showing.

"Heh, I'm still standing right now, so talk later," Yang told her cockily as she rushed forward with her first up in a charging guard. Azula then took full advantage of the approach and tried to go for a low sweep. Seeing through this, Yang performed a short hop to avoid the attack before thrusting her fist downwards and catching her unguarded opponent. The force was great enough to cause Azula to bounce from the impact and force her into the air, so Yang followed up with a hook that sent her opponent flying. Azula barely managed to catch herself of the fighting arena walls before rushing back.

Yang thought she saw an opening in her opponent last charge and made a wide hook to catch her, but Azula say this attack coming. Using expert timing, she back stepped the attack at the last instant before throwing one final round house kick that caught Yang at the side of her head. Yang lurched harshly, but her aura only seemed to glow even bright as she smashed her fist into Azula's face. The blonde lurch slightly at the damage she'd taken while Azula fell to the ground with a a shaky thud.

 _(End theme)_

"And the ref's calling it! Yang takes the first round by a sudden turn around KNOCK OUT!" the announcer called out with excitement as the crowd actually looked to be cheery Yang somewhat. While the blonde was a little shaky on her feet, she did her best to stay standing with a stubborn grin. "FIVE MINUTES ON THE CLOCK NOW FOLKS! CLAIM YOUR WINNINGS AND GRAB YOUR DRINKS!"

While Yang started slowly making her way back to her own side of the ring, she noticed a red clocked figure heading into the ring and heading over towards Azula. The figure didn't say anything as Yang's opponent regained consciousness, only offering a hand, helping her up, and guiding her back to the other side of the cage. Yang could guess that the person was her next opponent, but she was more focused on getting back to her seats and finding a drink of water.

"Here," Ragna said as he offered his current partner one of the water bottles from the stands.

"Thanks," Yang said in turn as she roughly sat down and took a long drink. "That felt close."

"Looked it too... if it wasn't for the amount of brute force your style had to offer you would have been in trouble," he decided to inform, only to then notice Yang glaring at him. "What's your problem?"

"You of all people, talking to me about brute force?" Yang scoffed at the hypocrisy. "Remind me again how you fight?"

"I never said it was a bad thing, I can just recognize it easily... since I'm a big user of it myself," he muttered as Yang delivered a light punch to his shoulder, something that seemed to hurt her more than it did himself.. "Be careful about this next guy; the way he walks tells me he isn't any amateur."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful," Yang told him before smiling. "Wouldn't want to lose a tooth and ruin the smile that makes you as red as your coat."

"Speaking of losing teeth..." Ragna began, and Yang couldn't help but notice the deflection in the conversation. "I thought these places were supposed to give us mouth guards."

"Better," said the fighter beside the two as he smiled and revealed several metal teeth. "We got our own personal dental plan."

"...Yeaaaaah, don't get hit in the face," Ragna advised to Yang who only seemed to giggle while the fighter beside Ragna actually looked slightly hurt by the comment. Soon enough though, the five minute mark had passed and it was time for Yang to take to fighting arena once more.

"Wish me luck," Yang told him as she headed into the arena, only to see the enigma in the red cloak standing before her.

"HERE HE IS!" the announcer shouted, getting a great cheering roar from the watchers. "In our five years of operating in this little fight club, never have found a fight with as much talent as this man! You know him! You love him! THE ARENA NIGHTMARE! THE RISING PHEONIX! THE FABULOUS DAD-ULOUS! ROJO ICARUUUUUUUUUUUS!"

Throwing his cloak away for a dramatic demonstration, Yang and Ragna managed to get a good look at the other champion. He stood slightly taller than Ragna and looked at his late 30's at most. His hair was long and red, done into a pony tail in the back but there were traces of blue highlights all about it. On the front of his chest he seemed to the tattoo portrayal of a hawk's head and talons while he had it's red wings painted on his back. His combat shorts were a mix or red and golden and he seemed to carry himself rather well.

"...Fabulous Dad-ulous?" Yang questioned for a short moment before she got the connection. "So Azula..."

"Yeah, that's my daughter; always charging into the _family business_ a bit too eagerly," Rojo told her. Yang started to feel a little awkward for the whole thing, but Rojo then gave a chuckle. "I'm not the type to hold grudges in the ring; it's just a matter of battles with business." Showing more sportsmanship than his daughter, he held his knuckles out. Yang smirked as she tapped them in return and got into position. "Sorry in advance if I go too hard on you, but I hate to lose."

"That's something we've got in common then," Yang assured him with a smirk, trying to keep an eye on him and read his movement.

"And we're all set! ROUND TWO! FIGHT!"

"* **GUH-!***...What the-?"

Yang's eyes were filled with surprise as Rojo stood right before her, his fist striking her square in the gut and through any defenses she could have prepared. A short trail of crimson was visible behind him, as was a dissolving after-image of his starting stance. Only as she slowly fell did she hear the sound of the bell toll through the arena, right before she hit the ground.

"The legendary _CRIMSON FLASH!_ " the announcer shouted as the crowd shouted for more. "That's the very technique that Rojo used to get him the championship battle! We're checking the instant replay and... Yes! The bell was _technically_ rung before the move was started! Perfect timing on Rojo's part and a perfect knockout in less than a second!"

"Phew, wasn't sure if Klark was going to soil the surprise before I threw the move," Rojo sighed as he looked down at the struggling form of Yang. "Sorry kiddo, but I don't think I'm _that_ soft-hearted. You showed my daughter a good fight, so be proud of that much."

Only nodding to him, Yang slowly forced herself to stand and slowly began limping her way to her seat. At the entrance to the ring stood Ragna in wait with his cloak removed. Yang took one look at him and it was clear that he wasn't here to help her back to her seat.

"Be careful... he's fast," Yang warned him.

"Yeah, but I didn't have fight through a match in order to get here did I?" Ragna said in response as he entered the ring. "I won't have to fight through a first beating to keep eyes on him, so that's one small advantage."

"Looks like our next fighter is already chomping at the bit for the next round! He can't even wait the five minutes!" Klark the announcer declared before turning his head to Rojo who only nodded. "Yep! Looks like next rounds starting any second folks! This new challenger saw what just happened to his partner, but he's either brave or stupid because it doesn't look like he's flinching away for even a second Standing tall in the face of horrifying odds, it's White-Haired Warrior! The Ballsy Brawler! The Grim-Faced Gladiator! RAGNAAAAAAAAA!"

' _Cheering isn't half as loud as what Yang got,'_ Ragna thought to himself with a sigh. _'Then again, unlike her I don't exactly have much sex appeal with men... take it a compliment and hope that Jin realizes what he needs to.'_ He shuddered at that last part.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Rojo asked Ragna, standing as calmly as he had before. Ragna only gave a shrug. "Kind of curious why you didn't help you partner back to her seat. You're not using her to get to me are you?"

"She's the one who's using me in the first place and she didn't need my help. Besides, she's so damn stubborn that she'd have hit me for even trying to lend a hand while she's down," the Reaper grumbled. He then noticed Rojo starting to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Heh, let's just say with your attitudes, you and my daughter got more than a couple of things in common," the defending champion told him as he held his fists out to tap. "Guess I have to knock the crap outta ya to make sure she doesn't get interested."

"Tch, ten minutes of getting to know me and that wouldn't be a problem," Ragna darkly assured as he tapped fists as the two took their places on their sides of the fighting ring.

 _ **(** Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST **Bardock's Theme)**_

"HERE WE GO! THE FINAL MATCH OF THE NIGHT! EVERYTHING'S ON THE LINE FOR BOTH TEAMS! **ROUND THREE! FIIIIIIGHT!** "

Blasting off at the strike of the bell (not necessarily the sound), Rojo swerved to Ragna's left since he judged to his opponent to be right dominate. He was right in his assessment, but as he moved at supersonic speeds, he could barely believe himself as he noticed... Ragna's eyes were following him. Rojo quickly got over his surprise and back stepped to avoid an attack from his opponent, the sound of the bell then resonating around the room.

"And Rojo steps out of his initial strike! Why on earth would he have called it off!?"

 _'There's no way... unless of course he's a Speed Semblance user too,_ ' Rojo thought to himself before activating his semblance and rushing forward a second time. This time he went for Ragna's right side to get his attention, then zoomed around to his left side and winded back a punch. Having faked his opponent out, he went a 270 degrees around his opponents to Ragna's back, trying to get to his back right before-

 _WHOOOSH!_

"What the-?" Rojo exclaimed as Ragna's backhand came close to making contact with him, but the Rojo managed to dive back at the last instant. _'Okay, so his eyes can keep up with my semblance, but is his body too slow or..._ ' A terrible feeling hit the experienced fighter as Ragna only glared at him and kept his fists ready. ' _Can this kid actually match my speed?_ '

Despite the frightening prospect of his best strategy being thrown out the window, Rojo couldn't help but chuckle. He was used to fights getting tough and gritty from time to time, but this newcomer was about to make things interesting for him. Blasting forward in a powerful z-formation blitz, he delivered a lunging jab which Ragna had to guard against to keep it from colliding with his head. Using his speed semblance again, Rojo avoided Ragna's counter strike before twisting his body around in mid-air and causing his foot to collide with his head. Ragna lurched from the strike, but retaliated once more and hist Rojo with enough force to send him back a short distance.

"And there's our first trade-off of the match!" the announcer shouted. "Already the newcomer's showing that he won't go down easily, but I think that welt on his face is enough to tell anyone that his opponent's got a small edge over him!"

 _'I can't heal here just yet...'_ Ragna thought to himself as he felt the sting of the impact. _'If I do, then..._ '

"Don't get distracted," he heard Rojo remind him, just as he was forced to lean back to avoid another blow to the face. "Your mind better be on the fight, otherwise I'm going to knock you out in two seconds."

With Ragna already dodging back from the first strike, he tried to capitalize on it with a follow-up attack to the back of his head, but Ragna managed to flipped around with a chaotic kick that managed to keep Rojo back so that he could regain his footing. As soon as he did though, Rojo blitzed forward and the two traded off with powerful jabs to their opposing heads. Ragna recovered from that attack to his face quickly enough and then managed to smash his fist into Rojo's ribs and caused his opponent to lurch before smashing his head into his opponents.

 _'Well now... Swarming, Out-Boxing, Brawling, and even some traditional martial arts to boot? This guy's actually trained seriously for this,'_ Rojo thought with a smirk as he shuffled around his opponent trying to keep his distance. _'I might not have a lot of room for work with, but-'_

Giving one last smirk, he disappeared from sight, running around the entire arena at top speed creating a complete red circle around Ragna. The Reaper didn't know what was going on, only that after as Rojo managed to break out of his circle that he needed to guard this attack, though when he did a second strike hit him on the opposing side a brief instant later.

" _THE_ _RED TORNADO!_ I can't even tell you how badly this crippled the last man Rojo pulled this out on! It was three months before the poor bastard could walk again! This match is just about over!" The announcer claimed as Ragna was pummeled again and again from ever angle, not even given an instant to get his footing back.

' _Risky, but this'll get the job done!'_ Rojo thought to himself in the middle of his hellish dash. _'But I gotta finish this quick... time to speed up!'_ Rojo then increased his speed, going a full twenty times faster than he'd already been going when he was already in his _Red Tornado,_ every side of Ragna's body was being punished by a sudden attack with enough force that he was being pushed into the air. _'You pushed me good kid, but I like my place as champion too much to give you anything less than my best._ '

Then Ragna managed to thrust one of his feet to the ground and barely managed to keep it there as he was pummeled. Turning on what little contact his foot could make, Ragna roared a he swung into his classic roundhouse kick, catching Rojo square in the gut. The champion gagged at the sheer force at the impact right before he saw Ragna's rage filled and bruise covered face. Then Ragna delivered a devastating uppercut to Rojo's chin, sending him high into the air and out of the top of the ring's 30 foot tall cage walls.

 _(End Theme)_

"Th-th-th..." the announcer stuttered over the mic as the rest of the arena was deathly silent. Ragna then brought his arm up and wiped off the blood trail emerging from his mouth, his breath heavy as he shakily stayed standing. "THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE! THE BEST MATCH I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THIS FIGHTING RING! I DON'T KNOW HOW THE HELL HE DID, BUT THE NEW COMER JUST TOOK OUT OUR ULTIMATE CHAMPION! THE WINNER BY AN OUT OF THE RING KNOCK OUT IS RAGNAAAAAAAAA!"

There was some cheering from the crowds, but not as much as Ragna would have though he'd have gotten due to the erratic announcing that he'd just gotten.

"I guess not too many people put money on me," Ragna joked weakly as he fought to stay standing, noticing Yang heading his way with that same cocky smirk on her face. He grimaced at the hard tap she gave to his shoulders. "Sheesh! What the hell did you just see me go through!?"

"I dunno! But we managed to get the prize money didn't we?" Yang asked him with clear cheer. "SMILE!"

"Sm-?" Ragna was about to question before Yang threw her arm around Ragna's neck. He gritted his teeth through the pain as the blonde put her scroll up in front of the two. Trying to use the last instant he had to keep a neutral face, Yang snapped a quick picture of the two; bruised, slightly bloody, but still winners.

 _Later_

Yang's motorcycle pulled up to the entrance of the academy, slowing down just she got to her regular parking space. Ragna then leaped off of her favorite mode of transportation, scroll in hand as he landed on the with a type of rough grace. He'd been playing it the entire bike ride back from the arena, and he'd still been yet to come close to getting the cards he needed to win a match... he was starting to debate whether or not to delete the app.

"So, have a good time?" Yang asked him as she locked up her bike.

"...Tch, you never got me dinner," Ragna told her with something of a smirk on his bruised face.

"Right, kinda late to bring it up now though, isn't it?" Yang asked, only for Ragna stomach to rumble. "Maybe not..."

"Whatever, I can hold out and find something to eat later," he told her as he started heading for the dorms.

"...Actually, I heard of this place that's open late on Fridays, might be a little crowded, but I think I can find a way to make room for us."

"Do I want to know?" he grumbled as he shook his head and put his scroll away. It was still going, but he knew that he'd already lost the match anyways.

"I'm not that unbearable, am I?" Yang demanded as she leaned against her bike. "I know I'm a little..." She hated Ozpin for putting the word in her mind. " _Spunky_ , but you're not that bad of a guy to be around, even if you can be a little moody at times." ' _Erk, too close to home! Dang it Yang!'_

"...At times?" Ragna retorted with an actual chuckle. "Alright, you got me. Let's hit this place and grab a bite. We both earned a celebration after what we just went through."

"Burgers and Fries here we come!" Yang chanted with excitement. Ragna gave a small chuckled, only for it to be interrupted by the vibration in his jackets pocket. Grabbing the device out of his pocket he took a look at the screen.

 _'YOU'VE LOST THE MATCH! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!'_

"...Well my luck's not that good," Ragna chuckled as he headed to Yang's bike. "I'll just take what wins I can get then."

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **...Being sick SUUUUUUUUCKS. Seriously, that's the main reason why this chapter took so long to get out. Sorry about that, but my update/hiatus month is over, so you can expect more regular updates from here on out... once my sickness ends of course.**_

 _ **So I got a bit of an odd review, one that I'll address here since I won't be doing author reviews this one time due to sickness. Apparently someone thought I was going too 'hard' on Ragna in this story... which sort of surprised me with the way I usually write the character. I just got a bit of chuckle with the thought but after going back and re-reading... I at least decided to put him in his element.**_

 _ **'Till next time! Ciao!**_


	8. Contemplation By Fire

_**Crimson VIII: Contemplation By Fire**_

"Augh!" came a pained shout as a body hit the floor with enough force that a small crack was heard around the lecture room. Jaune Arc laid on the ground, a painful hiss emerging from his teeth as his body was inflamed by a harsh burning pain. The attack might have on grazed his shield, but he felt like his entire arm had just been torn off after beening sent flying.

"You call that a match?" came a shout from close to him as a large and burly body overlooked the blond with sadistic eyes. "That was pathetic!"

"I think you've already proven your point, Mr. Winchester," came the voice of Instructor Goodwitch as she gave an assertive glare to the victor of the mock battle.

"If you say so, Teach," Cardin said smugly as he made his way back to the seats.

"...Mr. Arc? If you can still move, I'd like you up from the floor... Mr. Arc?"

"I... I can move..." Jaune groaned as he slowly managed to rise to his feet and painfully began to limp back to his team. "That stank... Great first match, Leader..."

"That will conclude today's matches and our lesson. Make sure you're reviewed on everything that you'll need for tomorrow when we begin our team matches," Goodwitch instructed. "Class dismissed."

As Jaune tried to make his way back, he accidentally bumped shoulders with a fellow blond student due to his limp after being so badly beat in his last match. Jaune yelled as he was shoved to the ground landing squarely on his rump. He gave a short groan as he tried to recover, right before seeing the narrow and terrifying emerald eyes scowling at him.

"Out of my way, weakling," Jin Kisaragi told him off as he stepped around the other student. His teeth in an obvious snarl as he was only in the worst of moods.

"Jeeze, and I thought he was an ass the rest of the time," came a groan from Kagura Mutsuki as he made his way over and offered his hand. Jaune took it and was helped to his feet giving a harsh wince at his still burning wounds. "...Celica, you mind?"

"I've got him!" the redhead said happily as she approached Jaune and gave a small green glow. Within a few moments the leader of Team JNPR was feeling much better, impressed with how quickly it had taken effect.

"Thanks, perfect as always" Kagura told her with an underlying flirting in his tone. Celica gave him a small smile before heading off to follow the rest of her team. "Sorry about that; my leader can be kind of dick and not being able to fight his brother just put him in a worse mood than usual." When the students had gotten into their first day of mock battles, it was clear that Jin wanted to select his brother as his opponent, but Goodwitch had made it very clear that she had already arranged the early fights for the next few weeks.

"It's not a big deal…" Jaune told him. "I'm sort of used to it."

"Not exactly reassuring to hear," Kagura told him. "...Just hang in there, he's not that tough of a punk."

' _Easy for him to say; he's not the guy being bullied by him. The only person I've seen stand up to Cardin is...'_ Jaune thought, remembering back to when Ragna the Bloodedge had stood up for that Fanus girl several days back. ' _Man... that's the sort of thing I want to be able to do… like that's ever going to happen.'_

"You okay?" a new voice said approaching Jaune. He saw Pyrrha Nikos, his own partner heading over towards him.

"I'll be okay… looked pretty bad, didn't it?" he sighed.

"You just need practice and training; and that's why we're all here," she tried to reassure him. "You already shown a apt mind for tactics Jaune, we just need to help bring out your… other talents."

"Or lack of them," Jaune groaned.

"Well… he's not wrong," Lie Ren had to admit with brutal honesty as he and Team JNPR's final member Nora Valkyrie approached with the two. "Maybe if we give our teamwork a little more practice we can win a match if we get called on Tuesday or Thursday."

' _Even if we do that, I'll just be holding them all back…_ ' Jaune thought to himself sadly. "Maybe this weekend guys, I… I have some stuff to take care of first."

"Are you sure, we can help you… out?" Pyrrha tried to asked Jaune continued to limp away sadly. "Jaune…"

"Let's just give him some space for now," Ren told her. "He just had a bad first fight; he'll come around… eventually."

As Jaune sadly left, Ruby couldn't help but notice his dour mood from a distance. She then looked to a distant corner of the room and saw Cardin joking with his teammates, obviously obnoxiously mocking Jaune and the defeat he'd just suffered. Ruby had a good hatred for bullies and wanted to help Jaune, but she'd started to notice that he had a lot of difficulty asking someone for help… but an idea started to form in her mind of a way Jaune could get the support he needed.

 _-After classes-_

"You want me to do what exactly?" the Grim Reaper asked as he laid in his dormitory bedroom for the first time in a while. It was actually dinner time at the Academy, but due to the strained nature between Ragna and his team, the Reaper had decided he'd eat dinner later and save himself from the unnecessary scorn and chaos. This left his team room open for a rare chance to use it peacefully, an opportunity he wanted to use in full.

"I want you to help Jaune; try and give him some pointers," Ruby tried to explain as she sat at the foot of his bed while he friend had his nose buried in a textbook. "Come on, you saw what kind of trouble he was in today. He could use a couple of pointers from you."

"...I'm sure he could," Ragna nonchalantly told her back.

"I mean that he could REALLY use a couple of pointers," Ruby tried again with emphasis.

"Uh huh," he noted back, only for Ruby to reach over and pull the book away.

"Like he would REALLY REALLY benefit if you helped him," Ruby told him with a small scowl pointed in his direction at her friend's unwillingness to cooperate.

"...I'm not the type to just help people out of the goodness of my heart Ruby," Ragna told her. "You're better off asking someone else."

"You mean like someone who tried to be my friend when I didn't know anyone when I first got here?" Ruby reminded harshly. Ragna didn't say anything, though a small bead of sweat started to form. "Or a guy that's helping my _entire_ group study and even staying up past midnight with me so I'm ready for a test?" A few beads of sweat. "Or a guy that helped Yang with a big favor despite _clearly_ wanting nothing to do with it?" Ragna turned his head away so he didn't have to look directly at her. "You're not fooling anyone Ragna."

"That's… it's different…" Ragna told him. "Jaune doesn't look like he's the guy that wants to be asking for help, you've seen him. He's trying to play the strong leader card and if he asked for help he's afraid he'll look weak...er as a result." Ragna sighed. "I'm not going to just force a couple of pointers on him; that won't accomplish jack."

"Ragna please?" Ruby tried to beg him.

"If he really wants help he'll go to Pyrrha or his other teammates, they're more than willing to help him out and they're also the ones that SHOULD be helping him out." Ruby couldn't argue, Ragna did have a point there. "It's up to him to come to term with whatever faults he's got."

"So just agree to train him in secret; he'll get some help and he won't have to think that his group think that he needs help so desperately," the huntress-in-training tried again.

"Ruby…" Ragna tried to deny, but that was when he saw her staring directly into his eyes. Her own grey eyes were wide in plea with crocodile tears for effect. Even knowing that her crying was false Ragna winced as he eventually caved in. Giving a groan, he sat up on the his bed so he was sitting upright next to Ruby. "...On one condition."

"A condition?" Ruby asked, thinking Ragna was going to ask something from her. "What is it?"

"You can coax Jaune all you want, but he has to come to me for help if I'm going to do this. Say whatever the hell you want to him, but I'm only helping once he asks me face to face. You got that?"

Maybe it wouldn't be that easy… but if she played it right, Ruby knew she could convince him.

"...Alright, I can work with that," she told him before smiling and punching him in the arm. "Softy."

"Yeah, yeah…" Ragna said with a sigh as he got to his feet. "C'mon, let's grab dinner."

"...In just a minute, I'm going to talk to Jaune," Ruby told him with a confident smile as she headed out of Team RAIN's room, leaving Ragna to shake his head.

"Speed semblance or not, that chick moves fast…" he sighed as he started heading for the cafeteria.

 _After dinner_

' _First I lose my opening match in the academy and then I get suckered by Ruby so easily… I really can't do anything on my own can I?_ ' Jaune thought to himself sadly. ' _I must be the biggest fool in the academy to be convinced by those eyes of hers, seriously…'_

The young blond had been standing outside the door to Team RAIN's room for a good few minutes now, unsure of what he was going to do now that he was actually here. Sure he'd told Ruby that he'd go to Ragna… but standing here in front of the door somehow felt just as intimidating as talking to the terrifying silver-haired man… that was a stranger to him.

' _H-here goes nothing…'_ Jaune thinks to himself before knocking several times on the door. He stood outside waiting, hoping to see Ragna open the door to his team's room… instead he got the least favorable person; a blue haired giant that towered over him. ' _...Meeep!_ '

"Eh, what the hell are you doing here?" Azrael asked as he towered over the trembling blond. Jaune looked like he was trying to say something, but his shaking in Azrael's presence of pure intimidation wouldn't let him find his voice. "...I won't be able to get two words out of you, will I? Hey redhead, talk to him for me."

Jaune gave a sigh of relief as Azrael walked away from the door, now revealing Tsubaki whose smile made her seem much more approachable… helped by the fact that she wasn't large enough to take up the entire doorway.

"Sorry about that, is there something I can help you with?" Tsubaki asked him, reminding Jaune why he'd come here in the first place.

"Oh yeah, I'm here to talk to Ragna," Jaune said with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head and tried to keep smiling.

"TCH!"

"Eh?" Tsubaki's change of mood was so sudden that Jaune had to take a step back from the sheer force of it. Though she was continuing to smile, he could practically see the darkness radiating off of her and slowly backed away. Now he might've prefered to have that nice conversation with Azrael after all.

"I… Don't… KNOW… where… he… is…." Tsubaki told him, her tone giving Jaune a new meaning of the word _fear_. "Maybe you'll… just have to… LOOK... for him…"

"I...I'll try asking around then," Jaune said to her meekly. "...thank you…"

 _ **SLAM**_

Jaune took a deep breath to try and steel himself after that little debacle, taking note that the force of the door slamming had been enough to cause deep cracks all along the wall. Running down the hallways, his goal right now was to just put as much distance between him and Team _RAIN_ 's room as he could… finding Ragna only came second to avoiding the crazies that were in his team.

After spending some time searching around the school grounds, he eventually found the Reaper who was lying across one of the outdoor benches. He was completely exposed to the elements and he'd taken off his coat to lay across himself as he tried to get some sleep with his massive blade laying against his makeshift bed… all in all, he sort of looked like a homeless man that was used to doing things like this. Jaune had been about to walk away and let the red coated man get his sleep (and avoid the risk of seeing if he work up angry), but Ragna seemed to stir from his sleep and rise from the bench with a yawn.

"D… did I wake you?" Jaune asked, worried that he had. Luckily for the blond, Ragna didn't look much more he annoyed than he usually was.

"Nah, I never really fell asleep and even when I do hit the sack it's always with an eye open," the red coat muttered as he twisted his head to get a couple of painful pops out. "You wanted something?"

"Er, yeah… I…" Jaune took a deep breath. "I looked kinda pathetic today, didn't I?"

"I guess…? Honestly I was trying to catch up on my sleep," the Reaper admitted. Since he hadn't been called out just yet, the Reaper had tried getting as much sleep as he could since he clearly wasn't going to get any with Tsubaki and Azrael staying in the same room.

"I've heard from a friend that you're pretty tough… and you kinda seem to be the type that doesn't take anything from anyone," the fellow student told him, all of which seemed to be accurate. "Can… can you give me some pointers? ...I'm kind of in a bind right now without you."

"...Was it the eyes?" Ragna asked out of seemingly nowhere.

"Huh?"

"Truth was I had mixed thoughts about helping you out, but Ruby and those eyes of hers… somehow as cold hearted as I am, I'm still a damn sucker for 'em all the same…" He sighed, quite clearly disappointed in himself.

"...Yeah, it was the eyes," Jaune admitted, scratching the back of his head. Strange as it was, he felt a little better about himself now that he knew that even someone as hard and cold as Ragna could fall for the same trap he did.

"Lesson One, appearances can be deceiving; that works for both me and Ruby," Ragna told him before he rose and slung his coat on. "Follow me."

"Huh? We're starting now?" Jaune asked with some surprise. "I… I didn't bring my sword or my shield…"

"Still, I'm guessing you want to keep your training on the down low and in order to do that we're going to have to take every minute that we've got," Ragna explained. "There's no one in the training room at the moment since it's locked so this is the best chance we're going to get."

"But it's getting late…" Jaune said with worry. "And we'd be breaking in…"

"Lesson Two and Three, being sleep deprived is a real bitch and sometimes you gotta bend the rules," Ragna muttered to the youth as he grabbed his sword. "I'll run up ahead and unlock the room, I need you to run back and grab your gear. Got it?"

"O-Okay…" Jaune said as he hurried off to his room to get his things while the Reaper threw his red coat on and started heading for the training room.

When Jaune got to his team's room he saw that everyone had already made it back from dinner and was taking it easy; Pyrrha was reading a small novel that she'd gotten from the library, Nora was playing games on her scroll, and Ren had apparently purchased a bonsai tree and was currently caring for it. Trying to slip in and out unannounced, Jaune simply grabbed his sword and shield and headed off to find the Reaper.

"So… think he's trying to sneak some practice in?" Ren asked as he made a precise cut on one of the branches.

"I'm sure he is," Pyrrha decided. "Nice to see that he bounced back from his earlier slump… Nora, I think you're making it hard for Ren to concentrate if you're looming over him with his guns."

"Aw c'mon, the blades on these puppies will have the tree cut down to size quickly enough!" the hyper Nora said with a huge goofy smile.

"I think you're missing the point of a Bonsai tree…" Ren told her with a grimace as he tried to focus on the next crucial cut.

 _Later -Training Room-_

By the time Jaune made it into the training room, the place had already been unlocked which was strange because there weren't any obvious signs of tampering with the door. This was probably to make it so that Ragna could easily cover their tracks, but he couldn't be certain on his method of entry. Heading inside, he found Ragna waiting for him with his arms crossed and his sword resting on his weapon's belt.

"Alright, you've got all of your gear," he noted as he tried to think. ' _Where the hell do we start? ...I guess my master would… but is that… guess it wouldn't hurt to try.'_ "Alright, first thing's first; we gotta work on that guard of yours."

"My guard?" Jaune asked as he looked to his shield. "...Can't we start with offense?"

"Offense won't do jack for you if you can't keep from getting thrown around like a rag doll," Ragna told him, reminding the shield user of his fight with Cardinal that morning. "Come on, put the damn thing up and let's get started."

"O-okay," Jaune said nervously as he raised his shield and tried to get ready. "L-like thi-?"

 **(** _ **Power Punch Sound Effect from Dragon Ball Z**_ **)**

The impact of Ragna's fist upon his shield was nearly ear splitting. Jaune screamed as he was sent flying back, his back hit with a surge of pain as he slammed into a wall. Falling to the ground, Jaune gave a pained cough as he tried to catch his breath after such a heavy blow… well, it was heavy to him.

' _Dammit, I thought I was holding back plenty there…_ ' Ragna thought to himself sadly before giving a sigh. "Get up and adjust that guard of yours, we're going to keep going until you can manage an actual block."

"R-Right…" Jaune said as he shakily picked himself up from off the floor. He tried to position his shield in a way that it would cover more of his body and tried adjusting his footing so that he had a more solid contact with the ground. "Okay, I think I'm ready."

Ragna decided that he'd hold back even further on this punch to make sure he'd give Jaune a fighting chance. In his own experience he barely tapped the shield, but somehow he still managed to send the blond stumbling back from the force. The Reaper sighed as he realized that the two had a lot of work if they were going to make Jaune combat ready.

For the next two hours, training with Ragna consisted of _Suicide Runs_ , having Jaune try a few conventional workout routines like weights and crunches, and (Jaune's newly discovered least favorite workout) desperately attempting to guard against his attacks. By the end, the young blond was on the ground gasping and out of breath leaving Ragna concerned if he could actually do this.

' _I guess I owe it to Ruby to put the effort in… and he hasn't exactly broken yet_ ,' Ragna thought to himself as he stared down at Jaune's barely conscious form. "...Let's call that good for tonight; meet me here tomorrow at the same time and we'll pick up where we left off."

"A-Already!?" Jaune asked with terror, the fear of having to do that a second time apparently have awoken him almost instantly. "I-Isn't that a bit much?"

"If you want any worthwhile results you're going to have to go through hell, don't expect anything just by taking the painless route," the Grim Reaper instructed. "Head back now… I just gotta cover our tracks."

"R-Right…" Jaune told him as he tried making his way back to his team's room. There was a bit of a slump to his step as he felt both out of breath and badly battered, but he tried to make do. When he made it back to Team _JNPR_ 's room, the rest of his group was already fast asleep and ready for the next day. All he had to do was make contact with his own bed before sleep finally overtook him. He was too tired to even dream that night… but when he awoke the next morning, the training he'd gone through the night previous seemed more like a terrible nightmare.

 _Saturday_

"Please tell me that we're doing something different today," the blond begged his fellow student/private instructor. For the past week the two had done nothing but work on Jaune's defence with no obviously foreseeable results. It didn't matter what Ragna or Jaune himself seemed to try, the blond would continue to fumble around all the same.

"Like I said already; we work on defense first and make sure you can at least tank a hit," Ragna told him. Jaune gave a low groan… which then turned into a high pitched shriek as his trainer then took his sword off of his belt. "What's with that look?"

"Y-You're actually going to use that thing against me!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Maybe you'll have no choice but to improve if you're faced with this kind of a threat," Ragna told him. Jaune was starting to think that Ragna had a sadistic streak to him, but the Reaper's expression remained clearly neutral.

"Can't we work on something else… My offense… How to use a semblance? ...Anything but this, please!" Jaune pleaded.

"...Alright, fine then," the Reaper muttered. With no warning aside from with telegraphing his punch with a prolonged windup, Ragna threw a strong punch forward which smacked dead into Jaune shield and sent him stumbling back. "COUNTER!" With little else warning, Jaune tried to counter the attack with a blind slash… Ragna didn't even have to move as the blade missed him by a mile.

"Um…" Jaune began with embarrassment. He didn't get a second chance as Ragna lunged forward with a second strike and sent him fumbling back again.

"COUNTER!"

This time Jaune tried to control his counter swing a bit better, but Ragna simply held out his own blade to block him. The end result was Jaunt losing his grip on his sword as the weapon clattered pathetically against the floor.

"...From now on, anytime after I hit you and I say _Counter_ you try to swing at me, got it?" Jaune saw that he had little choice and nodded as he went to grab his sword. He'd managed to raise his shield to guard before Ragna slammed into it, this time using his sword. Jaune screamed as he was sent flying back, this time smacking into a wall. "...Counter."

"You gotta be kidding me!"

Training that night proved to be harder than anything Jaune had faced before and that was including his team's fight with a _DeathStalker_ Grimm. Apparently Ragna had been liniet with Jaune earlier because that night there was nothing held back. He lost track of how many times he'd been hit back into a wall early on and the rest of his training felt like a complete haze.

"You managed to survive," Ragna said, a touch impressed as he reset his blade on his belt. "That's it for tonight, you should head back and-"

 _Thud!_

"...Jaune?"

The blond wasn't responding. He'd fallen to the floor; passed out as all of the damage he'd taken along with his own exhaustion. He'd be alright, physically at least… but if Ragna left him in here they'd _both_ be in trouble.

"Crap… guess I got no choice," Ragna muttered to himself. After returning the training room to its natural state, Ragna headed down the halls carrying Jaune on his back piggyback style. He felt the smaller student's shallow, sleep deprived breath behind him as he went down the halls, but paid it no mind. Even if it was a Saturday night there was no one in the halls and he managed to make it back to _JNPR's_ room without being spotted. Once there though…

' _Now what?_ ' Ragna thought to himself, trying to come up with a plan. While it probably wouldn't matter if he told his team or not, he had made a promise to keep quiet… so he'd have to at least make _some_ effort to do so. ' _I guess I could just leave him outside, but what if I… yeah, that might work._ ' At least some form of a plan in his mind, the Grim Reaper knocked on the door to Team _JNPR'_ s room. It didn't take long for someone to open the door (luckily, it seemed like no one had hit the sheets).

"You're… Ragna from Team _RAIN_ , aren't you?" Lie Ren asked as he opened the door. The young student was shirtless, only wearing the grey cotton night pants for cover.

"Yeah, that's me," Ragna said, nonchalantly answering Ren's question. "I got something here you might want." Ren's eyes immediately went to the blonde leader he was carrying. "Found him passed the hell out on the floor… might've been killing himself with some training."

"I see…" Ren began, being rightfully suspicious. "What were you doing out this late?"

"What else? Looking for a damn place to sleep; the situation in my team's room is pretty… well it's toxic as all hell," the Reaper defended. To be honest, he'd never exactly told a lie. "Mind if I bring him in? He needs his sleep and I need somewhere _to_ sleep."

"Go right ahead," Ren said parting as Ragna brought Jaune into his room. The place looked homely enough. Nora and Pyrrha didn't give him much of a greeting, but they seemed more concerned with their team leader anyways. "You know, I've got a sleeping bag you can sleep in if you want. Might not be the most comfortable thing, but at least you won't have to spend the night outside."

"...Thanks for the offer, but I'm just here to drop Jaune off," the Reaper told him before roughly dumping Jaune on his bed. Of course, the blond was too out of it to react and just laid there in his exhausted sleep. "Take care… uh…"

"Ren, Lie Ren."

"Right," Ragna told him before heading out the door and closing it behind him.

"He's kind of a weird guy," Nora decided to comment.

"Pot... calling the kettle... black…" Jaune seemed to mutter in his sleep, surprising everyone on his team.

 _Next Thursday -After Last Period-_

"Ah man… now I'm actually wishing class would last longer… If it did I wouldn't have to worry about… Ugh."

Jaune would almost always grumble to himself like this when there was no one within earshot. Now training with Ragna was becoming the least favorite part of any day… hurt further by the fact that it was happening _every_ day. Jaune had next to no solace between his training sessions and Ragna was even making him work hard on the weekends. For over two weeks now they'd been meeting up in the training room, doing nearly the exact same routine and Jaune still didn't feel any stronger. He was surprised he wasn't getting any welts or unsightly scarring, but that was about the only _slight_ good news he could think of.

"Maybe I could opt out of practice… just for tonight," he groaned as he headed for his locker to drop off his supplies. "But what would I have to tell him to-"

"Well, well, look who it is," came about the last voice that Jaune wanted here at the moment. Turning his head, he saw Team _CRDL_ with their leader, Cardin Winchester, at the front. Seeing the smug look on his face, Jaune knew he was in for trouble. "Hey _Johnny-Boy_ , didn't you say that you wanted to lend me a couple of Lien for this weekend?"

"I… I never said anything like," Jaune said hoping for a miracle that Cardin would leave him alone for the day… Of course, he wouldn't have any such luck.

"See… that's funny; I could've _sworn_ you'd said something like that," the leader said as he crossed his arms surrounding Jaune and cornering him behind his locker. He remembered the time a while ago when he'd been shoved inside and Cardin had used its mobile feature to launch it off… that hadn't been fun. "So… maybe you're got a few to spare after all?"

"I… I…" Jaune tried to say. The truth was he'd actually left his wallet back in his team's room earlier that morning, but he doubted Cardin would like that. He slumped his head forward. "I don't have anything for you."

"Huh… what was that?" the bully asked, cupping his ear. "I couldn't quite hear you."

"I said I don't have any money…" Jaune said, his head still slumped forward.

"...So not only are you completely hopeless, but you're also broke? Talk about pathetic," Cardin said as walked off, laughing with the rest of his team. Jaune's fists began to shake; he couldn't take much more of this.

 _That Night -Training Room-_

"Are you even paying attention? Honestly, you've been slipping all night," Ragna muttered as he placed his large blade back on his belt. Jaune didn't say anything as he lied on the floor after being blasted back into a wall for the umpteenth time that session. The truth was he was actually feeling strong enough to get up despite the many hits he'd taken… but he simply didn't feel like he had any reason to. "Tch, that last one was supposed to be an easy one for you… If you don't start to shape up I'll-"

"Is this just a game to you?" the blond asked from where he laid, interrupting the Reaper.

"...Sorry, what was that?" Ragna asked, his voice low and threatening. Jaune was silent for a moment, slowly making his way to his feet and unable to look Ragna in the eye with his cowardice. The Reaper shook his head and turned his back to the blond, starting to make his way out of the training room.

"Y-You heard me!" Jaune shouted. The Reaper stooped cold, yet he kept his back to the youth. "You haven't been training me at all! All you've been doing is beating me down for weeks! I'm surprised you haven't broken any of my bones!"

"What? You can't take it?" Ragna asked as he kept his back to the outraged student. "Maybe you-"

"Maybe YOU should learn how to teach!" Jaune interrupted once more, shouting angrily.

"Ouch, I'm hurt…" the Reaper muttered with great sarcasm. "Who was the one that had to be forced to come to me for help again? Who's the one that can't even admit to his own team something that they obviously know?"

"I…" Jaune had a hard time speaking, now Ragna had turned to face him and had his intense eyes bearing down on him. Though he was shaking uncontrollably, he tried to return the glare. "S-SAYS THE GUY THAT CAN'T EVEN SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM AS HIS TEAM!"

"That's different; your partner is reasonable, mine ain't _brat_ ," Ragna insulted as his glare only intensified while his height allowed him to tower over Jaune. "You know I'm sorry that Pyrrha has to deal with some wimp that doesn't even have enough balls to ask for the help he-"

 _ **CLANG!**_

If he'd been even a split-second slower, Jaune's sword would have easily struck Ragna. As such, even blocking the weapon's force with _Bloodscythe_ had sent out a small shockwave throughout the room. The Reaper was actually a little startled by how fiercy Jaune's glare at him was as he continued to press against the Reaper's guard. But when that moment was gone however, the Reaper only had to give a rough shove to force Jaune stumbling back. Even with the great force against him, the youth quickly regained his footing and continued to glare at Ragna as he sheathed his sword before leaving out the door without another word.

"...Tch, what a pain in the ass," Ragna muttered to himself as he again set the sword back on his belt. "Now what the hell am I supposed to tell Ruby…?" His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the door to the practice room open. Expecting to see Jaune he readied himself to mouth off at the youth once more, but was stopped cold when he saw who was really there.

"Perhaps you should worry about your explanation for me? The one where you tell me how and why you've been ignoring curfew and breaking into the training room so late at night," Instructor Goodwitch told the Reaper with steely eyes behind flawless glasses. "And for your sake, I certainly hope it's a good one."

"Yeah… I hope so too…" the Reaper could only tell her, realizing he was in deep shit.

 _The Next Day -Final Period-_

"Jaune… Hey Jaune… Jaune!" The blond was snapped back to reality not by Nora's voice, but instead by her roughly grabbing his shoulder to a stop his walk as he awkwardly stumbled for a bit. "Your head must really be in the clouds, you passed the room almost a full minute ago…"

"Oh… I'm… I'm sorry," he tried to apologize to Nora and the rest of his team. From down the hall, he noticed Cardin chuckle as he sent him a demeaning smirk.

"You've been acting like this all day," Ren noted in his usual calm voice. "Did something happen?"

"Nah, it's nothing, I just-" Jaune stopped himself. It was either continue to brush off his problems and continue to slow his own team… or come clean with them… as clean as he could at least. "Actually, I… I got… I've got something I need to get off my chest…"

"...We have some time before class starts, so why don't you tell us now?" Pyrrha advised with her regular warm and understanding smile.

"I… I have no idea what I'm doing here," Jaune admitted, his head slumped over in shame. "I can barely hold my sword right most of the time and I can't even last two minutes in a fight against Cardin… I barely know anything about being a leader… most of which I just copied from a few books… And I'm completely clueless when it comes to semblances…" Looking up, he tried to stay strong as he looked his teammate in their eyes. "I know I'm late asking this… but I need your help…"

"...Honestly, you have no idea how relieved we are to hear you say that," Pyrrha told him, not dropping her smile and surprising Jaune. "You don't have to take this burden alone; I'm more than happy to help you."

"You got my support too!" Nora told cheerfully him before raising Ren's arm. "Ren's in also!"

"Let me say it myself," he sighed at his partner's behavior. "Even still, you've got my help any way I can provide it."

"Guys… Thanks," he said, even though he knew how much he was asking it felt good to finally be true to his team.

"I can't promise that it will be easy, but we'll see you through this," Pyrrha told him.

"And I'll work hard too…" Jaune said, closing his eyes and trying to smile.

"Is he about to cry?" Ren whispered to Nora, only to receive an elbow to the ribs.

With Ren gripping his bruised side, Team JNPR headed into the classroom. Jaune noticed that Ragna was sitting up in the far corner which was not only a far distance from the rest of Team RAIN (no surprise), but even from team RWBY as well. Jaune didn't think to much of it, only trying not to glare at the Reaper as he and his team took a seat in the stands as Goodwitch came up.

"For today's matches, we're going to start with something a little different…" she told the class. "Earlier, I was submitted a request for a rematch for one of our first week's fights. While I normally would never consider breaking protocole, this particular matchup just so happened to be listed when I decided to randomly generate today's fights… Just to set the record straight."

"This isn't like Goodwitch at all," Weiss noted to the rest of her team as a few of the student broke off into whispers. "If such a thing came up she'd tell the applicant in person and not even bother bringing attention to it… what's going on here?"

"And for the two participants..." the instructor began before a screen was alit with the profiles of the two. The entire room was dead silent… right up until braying laughter was heard from the seats.

"You've got to be kidding me! HE wants a rematch!? What kind of sick joke is this!?" Cardin shouted as he continued to laugh at Jaune's expense while the blond appeared to be frozen.

"Wait, you mean you didn't send in a request yourself?" one of Cardin's teammates asked.

"Why bother? You know how pointless it'd be to fight someone like him," Cardin said before he grabbed his mace. "Still... doesn't mean I can't take the points."

"Jaune?" Pyrrha worriedly tried to ask her shaken leader.

"I… I… I didn't…" Jaune thought before looking up at Ragna as he continued to sit far away from anyone else, unable to even look Jaune in the eye. While the blond's glare could have been absolutely scathing, at the moment Jaune was more terrified at what Cardin was going to do to him in their rematch. The other members of team JNPR had easily seen where Jaune was looking so as their leader was forced down to the ring, they instead headed up to pay a visit to the Grim Reaper.

"What did you do?" Pyrrha demanded with a scowl as fiery as the gates of hell.

"...Looks like I've got a second redhead pissed at me," Ragna muttered humorlessly under his own breath.

"Ragna, what's going on?" Ruby asked as she approached her friend, the same friend that didn't respond or even look her in the eye. "Is… is this some part of training?"

"Training… so you were training Jaune," Ren concluded, finally putting the pieces together from what he'd seen that night a few weeks ago.

" _Were_ being the operative word; he stopped last night in a pissed huff," Ragna admitted.

"Seriously?" Nora asked. "But then… d-did you send in that request for a rematch?"

"...Match is starting," Ragna told them, pretending that he hadn't heard them. The others were given no choice but to take their seat around the Reaper obviously with some heated tension between him and _JNPR_.

"You know _Johnny-boy_ , I'm starting to think that you're a masochist," Cardin said with a dirty smirk. The blond couldn't say anything as he brought out his sword and shield, trying not to look too nervous… and failing. "Hah! You're shaking! This is really all you got!? ...You don't even deserve to be at _Beacon!_ "

"Mr. Winchester…" Goodwitch threatened with clear disapproval in her tone.

"Just giving him a reality check, it looks like he needs one," Jaunes opponent said as the timer counted down to zero. "Let's end this quickly!"

Jaune gave a high pitched shriek as he dodged to the side while Cardin's mace smashed into the floor where he'd been standing and sent up a massive dust cloud. The blond stumbled back as he was nearly hit by Cardin's massive horizontal swipe. He tried to counter by stabbing his sword forward, but it was knocked away all too easily by his opponent's mace. Before Jaune could so much as recover, the bully smashed his fist into his face and sent him reeling back.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted, worried about her friend."What's wrong, why isn't he fighting back?"

"...Simply put, I only ever taught him how to block and counter," Ragna explained, not taking his eyes off the fight.

"You what!?" Ruby demanded as Jaune narrowly dodged yet another mace strike. "I thought I told you to help him!"

"I did, but I could only focus on teaching him those two things… all the good it did him," the Reaper muttered. Jaune tried to go for another risky swing with his sword, only to get instantly kneed in the gut and sent back, trying to catch his breath before Cardin strode up to him before grabbing Jaune by the collar, lifted him off of his feet, and threw him against the wall.

"Tch… You're even worse than last time," Cardin told Jaune as the youth's back was pressed against the wall, breathing heavily as his opponent cruelly made his way toward him. "Just give up and get out of the ring, everyone knows your finished…" Jaune then began running, leaving the rival leader to smirk… only to see that the blond had run to the _center_ of the ring.

"I… I'm not done yet!" he shouted, trying to be brave against such terrible odds. The truth was he was scared out of his mind, but as much as his mind was screaming for him to run there was something even stronger was telling him he needed to at least go down fighting.

"You little…" Cardin's cockiness turned into a harsh glare as Jaune brought up his sword and shield, refusing to run from the fight. Gritting his teeth, Cardin gave a great battle cry as he rushed forward. "I'LL SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO THE INFIRMARY!"

"For the first few days of training, no matter how much I tried to tone down my punches he could never block a single one without stumbling all over the place," Ragna admitted from his seat, not helping his situation with Team _JNPR_ and even straining his friendship with Ruby.

Cardin roared as he leaped into the air and raised his mace high above him. Landing such a hit even upon Jaune's shield would be devastating, potentially enough to break a limb or two. The blond didn't run from the attack, instead finally rising his shield in a desperate attempt to cover himself from the blow.

 _ **CLANG!**_

"After that though… _I decided to stop holding back._ "

Many of the students watching in the bleachers stared into the ring, gaping with wide eyes at what they were seeing transpire. Jaune hadn't buckled in the slightest, his arm remained up with his shield covering his face from the mace head as soft steam emitted from both weapon and armor. Cardin was aghast at the sight, never having seen his full powered strike blocked before and now it was being stopped by the weakest student in the class. He grit his teeth as he tried to push forward, but Jaune wasn't giving an inch. In fact…

"Y-YOU CAN SWING NOW!" came a nervous cry from beneath the shield.

"Wha-!?" Cardin's mind was completely blank at those words. Jaune hadn't even noticed he'd blocked the hit, nor did he seem to notice the force he was holding back.

"COUNTER!" Ragna shouted from the bleachers. Though Jaune felt that he'd gotten very little out of Ragna's training, instinct took over and he reflexively spun his body to smash the blunt side of his sword into Cardin's face.

"GAH!" his bully and tormenter grunted in pain at the sudden attack as he was sent stumbling back. Jaune's blade had hit him right in the nose and had broken it hideously, leaving a stream of blood to pour from his nostrils.

( _Cue_ _ **RWBY**_ _This Will Be The Day_ )

Jaune could only stare at what he'd done, now having struck an actual blow to his tormentor's face. He then looked to the stands and all of the shocked faces before looking at his own weaponry as a strange rush of adrenaline washed over him.

"D-Did I… Just…?"

"You little-!"

Breaking out of his daze, Jaune shrieked as he managed to raise his shield and block the first of Cardin's strikes, feeling the ease of which he managed to deflect the blow of the larger warrior. With his attack bouncing harmlessly off, Cardin followed up with a second swing which was just as ineffective. His anger boiling over, he made to punch Jaune's face only to strike his shield with a bare hand. He hissed through his teeth at the self-inflicted pain as his hand flared red. He was just barely able to see Jaune's next attack coming and managed to step back and narrowly avoid the sword. Trying to press the blond, he swung as mace again, only for it to bounce uselessly off his shield before being stuck in the face yet again by the flat of a blade.

"W-Wha-!? Jaune's fight back now!" Nora shouted from the bleachers with indescribable excitement at the turn over events. "He can win this thing!"

"Don't get your hopes up too early; he hasn't won yet…" Ragna muttered as he watched, his expression oddly neutral as Jaune continued to stand against Cardin. "Look there."

Given her combat skill, Pyrrha was the first to easily see it; after Jaune managed to once again counter Cardin's strike with his sword, he tried to follow up with a lunge but the attack went wide.

"He can't keep up an offensive," she quickly deduced with worry as Cardin stopped attacking for a moment, instead circling Jaune. "He has to rely on a solid defense and counter is opponent's attacks."

"Yeah… and as big an idiot as he is Cardin's starting to pick up on that," the Reaper muttered.

Indeed, Cardin had yet to make a move yet as he tried to think of a way to beat Jaune… though the fact that he had to use strategy against someone he'd looked down on so much annoyed him to no end. Through his rage an idea formed in his mind and he gave a nasty smirk. He ran forward with an overhead swing and Jaune raised his shield in turn to defend himself. This was just a bait and he had fallen for it. Grabbing his opponent's shield, Cardin tried to wrestle it off of the blond's arm. Panicking, Jaune tried to use his sword only for it to be knocked out of his hands by Cardin's mace where it clattered to the floor. He continued to try and get himself out of Cardin's grapple, but his enemy held strong… until.

 _ **BAM!**_

"GAH!" Cardin screamed as he held his 'weak spot' that Jaune had kneed out of desperation. The blonde then managed to get his shield out of Cardin's grasp, but the bully looked like he was _far_ too pissed to give him even a second to pick up his sword.

"I'LL PUT YOU DOWN!" Cardin shouted was he lunged forward, smashing his mace into Jaune's shield again and again in a berserk rage. Despite his powerful defense from earlier, Jaune felt his knees start to bend from the force of countless hits slamming into his guard as the floor cracked beneath him. "I TOLD YOU! YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!"

 _SNAP!_

Cardin winded up one especially powerful smash, smirking wickedly down on Jaune… until he saw his eyes peeking from behind his shield. They were not the eyes of a victim, a coward, or even a weakling. ... _They were the eyes of a Lion._

Giving one final shout as instinct once again overtook him, Jaune reeled back and dodged Cardin's attack at the last instant and left it to strike the floor in his place. The bully didn't have even a second to react as Jaune thrusted his shield forward, bashing the heavy metal into his opponent's face. His tormentor gave one final pained grunt as he stumbled back… before falling to the floor.

(End Theme)

Cardin lie sprawled out of on the ground, his entire face red from the impact of Jaune's final attack. The mace user tried to make it to his feet, but all he could do was struggle. Everywhere around the arena students gaped in awe at the display (including Jaune himself to a degree). The low groan that came after a moment of pregnant silence left everyone to remember that Cardin was quicker to recover than most as he painfully tried to stand, using his weapon to support his balance.

"And with that the match has ended. Mr. Winchester, Mr. Arc, please make your way back to your seats and we'll move to the next round of participants," Goodwitch insisted as she took notes, her air of professional conduct present as always.

"B-But- But that can't count!" Cardin shouted, apparently still having the energy to yell. "H-He got lucky! I wasn't even treating him seriously!"

"Then that's your fault for ignoring something that all Hunters and Huntresses should know; never underestimate the enemy. If you weren't fighting with everything you had there…" the professor then adjusted her glasses, giving her a look of absolute authority. "Then that's an entirely new level of failure."

Cardin's glare at Jaune was absolutely scathing, but the blond couldn't even notice it at the moment, he was still too busy coming down from his victory high. It was something he never exactly expected to feel… but it was awesome to have now that he'd had a taste. He headed up to seats, seeing the rest of his team and Ruby shooting him congratulatory looks as they sat beside Ragna. The Grim Reaper himself still appeared as reserved as ever, but even as Jaune went to speak to him...

"And now for the next match," Goodwitch began as she looked over her list. "We'll finally be testing Ragna the Bloodedge's fighting capability against…"

 _ **SHING!**_

"...Put your weapon away Mister Kisaragi, he won't be fighting you today," the instructor told Jin with a scowl as unsheathing his blade alone had coated everyone in the immediate area under a heavy layer of frost. Jin moodily put the blade in its proper place as Ragna stood from his seat, a low groan at his younger brother's attitude.

 _That Night -BEACON Hallways-_

"So… how bad was it?" Jaune asked as he walked through beacon's corridor with the rest of Team _JNPR_. As he'd promised the rest of his team, the four of them had practiced in getting their leader's combat ability to a decent level. While everyone else seemed calmed and relaxed, Jaune was covered in sweat and still trying to catch his breath from the work-out.

"You'll need some work… probably a lot of work," Ren admitted. "Your offense is pretty weak, but your defense is actually pretty hard to get around."

"For now I think you'll be able to cover your weaknesses with that," Pyrrha told him encouragingly. "It should help you get by for the time being, but if we keep working with your offense until the end of the semester you should be able to be a bit more well rounded."

"Until then you're just going to have to be our damage sponge!" Nora shouted with odd excitement, causing Jaune to cringe nervously. "You just need to stand right at the front, taking all of the attacks and just barely surviving before _POW!_ I come in and give 'em a sledgehammer to the face!"

"That's… fun…" Jaune said sighing at Nora's behavior before he suddenly lost his footing. His feet squeaked as he flailed from the ground to the air in a desperate attempt to keep his balance. The effort was a failure as he lost contact with the ground and landed roughly on his back. "Ow…"

"Oi, I'm moppin' over here. Can't you read the damn sign?" Hearing the familiar gruff voice, the group turned their attention and saw Ragna the Bloodedge looking… less than pleased. Much like he'd just said, he was holding a mop as he tried to clean the floors. His trademark red coat was missing as he was forced to wear a plain white apron over his black hakama clothing. A small ' _Wet Floor_ ' sign lay off to the side next to a cart of cleaning supplies, easy enough to see if you weren't distracted.

"...Hey, you mind giving us a minute?" Jaune asked his team as Ragna tried to return to his work and he got back to his feet.

"Go right ahead, we'll see you at dinner," Pyrrha promised as the group headed off, leaving the blond alone with the Grim Reaper.

"Hey… I… I'm sorry for blowing up last night," Jaune said to the Grim Reaper. "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have won my match today…"

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been stuck there to begin with," Ragna told him as he continued to mop while he talked. "Shit. I was a pretty crappy teacher, wasn't I?"

"...Maybe, but you got results at least," Jaune told him, trying to reassure his classmate. "Trust me, doing something like what I pulled off today felt like a pipedream before I talked to you and I ended up talking to my team anyways… you helped me more than you could ever imagine."

"Honestly, I was a little surprised you stuck around as long as you did," the Reaper admitted. "My old teacher… he sort of had this _throw me into the fire and let me figure it out_ kind of approach, so that's about all I could do for training; press your defense as hard as I could with my offense and hoped it would toughen you up."

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Jaune said to the Reaper with a still thankful smile. Despite himself, the Grim Reaper couldn't help but chuckle. "So… how did you get stuck with cleaning duty?" Normally students wouldn't be assigned this duty unless they'd gotten into trouble or there was a lack of cleaning staff due to illness … the leader of JNPR reasonably assumed it was likely the former.

"...Goodwitch found out that I'd been breaking into the practice room," he admitted, resuming his moping as he talked with the blond. "Good thing you went to your team, 'cause our training's not an option anymore and I'm stuck with this crap for today and tomorrow."

"Wh-what!? B-But you were only doing that to help me!" Jaune protested.

"That's what I told her… and she wanted me to prove it," the Grim Reaper explained with a sigh. "That's how you ended up getting stuck with Cardin today; call it a _test_."

"Come on… I won the match didn't I?" Jaune asked. "If anything that should clear you, right?"

"It did," Ragna muttered darkly. "If you hadn't won… well I don't think I would've been _Expelled_ , but there definitely be some kind of harsher hell to pay."

"You- You're serious?" Jaune asked, somewhat terrified of the possibility.

"Calm down, you gave her what she wanted," the Reaper told him. "I'm kinda on thin ice with her right now, but that's par for the friggin' course."

"Still, I was the one that got you into this mess..." Jaune sighed.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Probably could've done something smarter than breaking into the room anyways," the Reaper assured him, giving Jaune a smirk right before he was forced to tilt his head to the side to dodge a soda can. "...Really?"

"Sorry, I thought your face was a trash bin," came the annoyed voice of Cardin Winchester as he glowered at both of his most hated enemies in _Beacon_ academy; the fanus lover and the weakling that had shown him up. "Easy mistake."

"Don't you have anything better to do besides wasting my time, asshole?" Ragna curdly demanded. Looking behind him and see that the half-full can had spilled grape soda all over the floor he'd already painstakingly mopped.

"I'll be gone in a second, just wanted to reinforce a point," the bully said as he made to punch Jaune. The blond visibly flinched and the blow proved to have been a fake out. Cardin smirked mockingly. "You're still a coward _Johnny-boy_ and you always will be, don't forget that."

"Yeah Jaune, don't forget," Ragna added in strange agreement, before giving an oddly whimsical smile. "Even if that idiot smacked you in the face, he can't do much to you now."

"Oh, is that right?" Cardin growled before he made to shove Jaune, only for the blond to stand his ground this time. With his feet planted firmly in place, his own resistance managed to force the much larger man into stumbling back. Jaune tried to give his best heated glare at Cardin, and it proved to do the trick as Cardin merely let out a heated growl and left without another word.

"...Not bad," the Reaper commended, only to see that Jaune was sweating bullets now that his moment of strength was gone. "Well… you kept up a solid front at least."

"I guess I still need a bit of work in the _Courage_ department," the blond admitted with a nervous smile.

"Heh, you might be closer than you give yourself credit for," the Reaper told him, giving a rare but well earned compliment. "Go on and join the rest of your team, I still gotta finish up here."

"I guess I'll have to see you around, but thanks again. If you ever need a favor, just come and ask; you've got a friend in Team _JNPR_ ," Jaune promised before running off and leaving the Reaper to his work. With all present distractions gone, the Reaper managed to make solid headway in his punishment.

"Finally, almost done with this crap," he sighed to himself in relief. "Just gotta put the cleaning supplies away and I can finally head to din-"

"HEY RAGNA!" came the familiar cheery voice of one Ruby Rose as she ran down the hall to greet her friend. "Looks like you managed to WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!"

 _ **CRASH!**_

...Only to slip on the floor and careen directly into the nearby trash can, sending its filthy contents flying all over the floor. Ruby herself was now trapped headfirst in the can, giving a muffled scream as she wildly shook her legs trying to get out of the garbage container turned trap.

"...ner… Seriously, can't anyone read the damn _Wet Floor_ sign?" the Reaper swore to himself. With little other choice, he went to help the young huntress-in-training out of her predicament so that he could start cleaning the hallway all over again. "I guess this is the cost of getting actual friends… Dammit Qrow, you SO owe me for this."

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **If it wasn't evident by some of the more… demanding reviews, it's pretty damn obvious that a lot of people have been waiting for this chapter to come out. Ah well, I'll admit this is one iron that I've had in the fire for quite a while now so I can understand where the impatience is coming from.**_

 _ **As you'll have noticed, I'm changing Jaune a little to where instead of being inept but having good intentions I just had him horribly unbalanced. He has great strength in his defence, but is next to completely helpless in his offense (to start anyways). It's an interesting direction which might actually reinforce his whole 'leader' role, more easily able to insert him into key spots as a damage sponge while his team fights around him to support (like Nora had suggested).**_

 _ **Anyways, let's take care of the reviews… including the vulgar ones I guess.**_

 _EpicLinkSam_ : Eh, now that CTB is out I'm using Ragna/Ruby all the way.

 _Lazruth_ : True that…

 _Wlyman2009_ : With the time since the last update I certainly hope I've recovered.

 _Zero_ : Might take a bit…

 _The Unplanner_ : I don't think that's what Ozpin has in mind, but it would be easy to see his reaction. And between Rojo and Ruby… I think their differences are pretty plain to see (if _Cross Tag Rebellion_ has anything to say, plug plug).

 _Star's Keyblade4114_ : Thanks, I gave them an addition interaction in _Character Interactions_ _For Your Viewing_ _Pleasure_. (Yes, I'm REALLY plugging my stories this time)

 _treyalexander63917_ : That's what I thought too, but I'll save more RWBY interactions for a later date.

 _ScorchedBacon_ : Here's a good example of that.

 _ragriz_ : How about a _slightly_ different alliteration of Jaune?

 _Seath01_ : Got a plan for that.

 _The Megaevolved Pony_ : ...Trust me, I know.

 _Althea Sirius_ : Hey, there's not much I can tell you. The harem won't be an obnoxious thing, but it will still be present.

 _WindBrimmedHat_ and _darkhearted86_ : To quote Captain America 'LANGUAGE!'

 _kerrowe_ : Yeah, I got a lot of views when I mentioned this in _A Reaper's Awakening_. (THIRD PLUG'S A CHARM!)

 _ **Until Next Time Guys! Ciao!**_


	9. Short Stories of A Sanctioned Saturday

_**Crimson IX: Short Stories of A Sanctioned Saturday**_

' _Tch, still as lame as ever,'_ Ragna the Bloodedge thought to himself as he mopped the floors of Beacon Academy for his second day of punishment for breaking into the Training Room, still wearing the same plain apron as yesterday. Despite aiding Jaune in his first win at the Academy, the Reaper still found himself in something of a bad mood and was hoping that this menial labor would end sooner rather than later… unfortunately it wasn't even lunch time yet and the Reaper knew there was still time for a LOT to go wrong before he officially got off in several hours.

' _At least things have been relatively quiet so far… Buuuuuut knowing this place there's no way in hell that it'll stay that way all day. And Goodwitch had to tell me IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that if there's a mess made, I'm the guy that has to clean it up… Damn, you'd think that she has it out for me or something…'_

"Heya Ragnaaaaaaa!" the Reaper heard screaming from down the hallway. Grunting in his usual annoyance, he turned and saw Ruby skidding down the floor he'd mopped completely out of control and waving her arms about like crazy. It didn't take long for her to lose her footing completely and ended up in the air ready to land rump first on the ground… right before Ragna caught her.

"Really, again?" the Grim Reaper sighed as he looked down at the young huntress in his arms. Ruby herself on giggled with a guilty smile on her face. That was when to two heard the door leading into the dormitory opening behind them

"Brother, I'd heard that you were left with menial labor today so I thought I'd-"

Whatever Jin had been about to offer was effectively silenced as he got a good look at the two before him, namely the fact that Ragna was carrying the young huntress bridal style. He stared at the two of them, his face going from surprise to annoyance to unshakable anger that caused all of the water on the floor to instantly freeze over. Roughly slamming the door, Ragna was half surprised it didn't completely come off of its hinges.

"...That's going to come back to bite me," the Reaper sighed as he set Ruby back down on the floor albeit with some light blushing from both of them. "Soooo… what exactly were you hoping for?"

"I was… kind of here to help you out," she told him with a slight blush. "I mean it's my fault that you got put into this situation in the first place isn't it? I can at least help you out."

"You just asked me to help Jaune; it was my stupid idea to try and break into the training hall so it's on me and not you," Ragna told her as he tried to resume mopping, breaking his mop out of the ice Jin had made to start.

"I know, Goodwitch told me as much when I brought it up to her a few minutes ago, but that doesn't mean I ca'tn just go out and help you can I?" Ruby offered with a bright smile.

"I appreciate the offer… but I'm already in enough hot water with Goodwitch," he told her as he twisted his mopping implement and started breaking the ice with the handle. "It's just for one day, I can live through that much."

"Yeah, but… I still feel a little guilty…" Ruby admitted. Smirking a little at his best friend's innocence, Ragna gave her a friendly pat on the head.

"Just save me a spot at dinner, hopefully I'll be done by then." Tough as things were, he could at least admit that Ruby genuinely meant well for him and to Ragna that was more than he could ask for… okay, he _could_ ask for more but at the moment he'd take what he could get.

"Got it! I'll save you a whole table if I have to!" Ruby promised him cheerfully.

"Just a seat will be fine," Ragna told her, a little embarrassed by her eagerness to help him. A smiling Ruby walked off, careful to avoid the water that he become frozen by Jin. "Alright… time to get back to work."

 _ **Substory One: A Five Course Death**_

"Tch, so much for that…" Azrael grumbled to himself as he walked through the hallways of Beacon academy. The Mad Dog had wanted nothing more than to grab himself a good sparring partner and go to town. Unfortunately, no one in the training room was worthy of his palate and those that he had found there knew well to avoid him as best as they could. That left Azrael using only the machines and leaving him rather unsatisfied. "I could go after my Team Leader or his brother, but they'd probably just shrug me off. Maybe if I can get a girl involved I can try seeing if I can get that Mutsuki guy from _JACK_ to fight me seriously… Seriously, what does it take to get a decent meal around here?"

"Oh, are you looking for food?" he heard a young and innocent voice asked from behind him. Turning around, he saw his normally scared and timid partner smiling at him brightly as she held onto a few bags filled with cooking ingredients.

"You're… cooking?" Azrael asked as he stared at the bags. "Isn't it almost time for lunch?"

"It is, but I thought I'd try cooking myself and getting a bit of practice," she said as she looked at the bags. "The cooks in the cafeteria were really kind and gave me all of these ingredients to use and suggested a place on the other side of the Academy I could try cooking."

"Good for you, but that's not the kind of food I was talking about," Azrael denied, right before his stomach gave a low growl. "...But I guess I could go for the other stuff." ' _In fact considering how deadly her cooking's supposed to be, this might make for an interesting match after all… hah, let's see how far I can go._ '

"Perfect! I needed a taste tester anyways!" Noel told him with excitement as she started leading the blue haired giant to the kitchen so that she could begin making a large meal for him to try.

As Azrael would quickly learn, Noel's way of cooking had a certain… style to it. To the young and innocent blonde she treated it as if she were cooking for a good friend and always had a bright smile on her face… whilst butchering the food and doing things to it that Azrael wouldn't wish on anyone. Pair that with the grotesque sounds produced every time she improperly cut a piece of meat or added a spice that she really shouldn't have and the Mad Dog was actually starting to feel unnerved.

"That's the first dish done!" Noel told Azrael as she put her first dish in front of her partner. She'd intended to prepare Pan Fried Trout topped with garlic butter and served with a side of creamy mashed potatoes… the dish looked **[Censored]** and **[Censored]** and smelled like **[Censored]**. Azrael swore he heard the fish beg 'kill me…' and had a feeling that hadn't just been his imagination. "Dig in!"

"Aren't you going to have any?" the Mad Dog asked, looking down at the… well he couldn't call this thing 'food'... _challenge_ , he looked down at the _challenge_.

"Nope, whenever I cook I usually end up so full just by the smells alone that I'm completely satisfied. More for you," Noel told the Mad Dog.

"...Alright then," Azrael muttered as he grabbed a fork and cut himself a decent sized chunk. Without much hesitation, he brought the hellish concoction to his mouth and began chewing. It felt like sheer hell to go through, but Azrael wasn't one to turn down a challenge. Eventually he managed to slowly swallow the bite and fought hard to keep himself from shuddering. "It… It needs work… but it didn't kill me."

"Really!? I'm so glad you like it!" Noel told him again, her eyes tearing profusely. Azael was thinking that she was making his words more of a compliment than they were meant

"You've got some passion for cooking," he muttered as his stomach begin to gurgle in pain. It was going to be a hellish fight to keep his food down, but the Mad Dog was confident enough that it would be his digestive system to win the day… still might need to spend a few hours on the porcelain throne. "You usually cook like this?"

"Yeah, I had a lot of good friends back in _Flare_ Academy that I always cooked for before I transfered to _Beacon_. I would always try to cook for them… but they'd usually have eaten by the time I was finished making it…" Azrael bit his tongue hard to keep from speaking out. "So I learned to cook my food even faster so that I'd be able to make it for them before dinner rolled around!"

"You really sure that was the best idea?" Azrael tried to ask, but it was clear that his partner wasn't getting the memo. "Never mind, anyways bring out the next-" The Mad Dog stopped his instructions, a harsh sizzling noise echoing in the background. "You turned off the gas, right?"

"Of course; when cooking it's important that safety comes above all else!" Noel told him, a little offended at how careless he thought she was

' _Honestly her cooking's probably more dangerous than any harm she could do while making it… Which works for me, but still… what the hell is…_ ' Azrael then found what he thought might be the source of the hissing; two of Noel's dishes that had been taken out to cool and had been placed close to each other were sizzling over and... _mixing_. ' _That can't be good…'_

"What's going on?" Noel asked as she followed Azrael's eyesight towards the mixing death meals. A bright light emitted from the two transgressions against god as they fused into…

 _A Few Minutes Later_

"You know… sometimes I just gotta ask myself… what did I ever do to deserve this?" Ragna asked as he looked over the kitchen. The walls, the floor, the ceiling… everything was covered in some sort of goop that looked downright foul. Noel was plastered the wall by the concoction, giving a mild scream as she tried break free of the apparently thick material. Azrael himself seemed to be fine, in fact there was a small circle around him where the stuff was nowhere to be seen. Walking over to Noel, Ragna sunk his hands into the dense and disgusting material before pulling harshly and managing to break the gasping blonde out of her prison.

"What's going on here?" came Professor Goodwitch's voice as she approached from down the hallway. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what had happened to the Academy's side kitchen and her accusatory glare immediately went to Ragna.

"Don't blame me; I just got here," he said nonchalantly as Noel looked disappointed in herself more than anything. Azrael didn't say anything, only jumping over the mess and walking down the hallway as he muttered something about strange meals. "Just going to let him go?"

"He's not the one that has to clean this mess," Goodwitch told the Reaper who had to fight not to lose it in front of a teacher. "If you need additional cleaning supplies, there's a janitorial closest down the hell. Take whatever you need from there."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he looked down at Noel who was on the verge of tears. He knew that as her leader he should say _something,_ but nothing came to mind immediately. Shaking his head, he surprised the blonde by picking her up in a piggyback carry and heading out to the his _Team's_ room. He shuddered at the feeling of the… whatever it was on his back, but he knew that he'd be cleaning the stuff soon enough anyways.

"I...I'm sorry…" Noel told him on his back. Ragna sighed.

"Just do better next time, alright?" That didn't seem to set the record straight… but maybe it was all he could say to the small piece of Saya he still carried.

 _ **Substory Two: Spirited Study Hall**_

"...They really think that I can memorize all of these numbers and make techniques out of each and every _Grimm_?" Yang asked as she buried her head in her book and let out a low scream. She was with Weiss and her sister in the academy's library, trying to complete yet another assignment for their _Grimm Studies_ class. This was their largest assignment yet on the subject and as such it wouldn't be due until friday of the following week, but the group decided that they should at least get started on the project while they had the chance.

"These details and tactics are going to be one of the most important things that you'll ever learn at the academy; if you don't learn these you could very easily wind up dead," Weiss instructed as she too looked over her book, taking notes methodically and with perfect handwriting.

"Ugh I knooooow," Yang whined. "But memorizing stuff like this isn't my strong suit…"

"Come on sis, I can help you!" Ruby offered with a big smile on her face as she pumped her fist into the air. "I've already read a ton ahead!"

"Oh, in that case do you think I could join in your studying darlings?" came a rather flowery voice that caused Weiss to cringe hard. Amane Nishiki who had been responsible for her forced dance had been the one to speak and he was accompanied by both Jin Kisaragi (wearing reading glasses) and Tsubaki Yayoi (no comment).

"You sure can! Pull up a seat!" Ruby said with a welcoming smile.

"He just called us darlings!" Weiss hissed, while trying to remain quiet due to fact that they were still in a library.

"It's Amane, calling someone darling is probably like saying hello," Ruby figured.

"Right you are my dear," the dancer said with joyous laughter.

"Don't be proud of that!" Weiss vented before looking at Jin who didn't look like he would give them the time of day and Tsubaki, who only seemed to be waiting on Jin. "What about them?"

"Oh? Truth to be told my dear leader and I were headed here to complete the same assignment before Tsubaki found us and asked to join… Of course, I figure that it might be best to leave these two lovebirds to their own studying."

"L-Lovebirds?" Tsubaki repeated with a blush.

"Tch, quit your antagonizing; it's annoying and unproductive," Jin told Amane, cold and as harsh as always. The Kisaragi Heir's eyes scanned the library, the busy library… the crowded, busy library… the FULL, crowded, and busy library. "...I'm afraid there's nowhere else to sit."

"C'mon, we don't bite," Ruby tried to tell Jin as a joke to lighten the mood. Whatever ice talents Jin had been shown to possess up until that point completely paled to the chilling glare he sent toward Beacon's youngest huntress. "I-!"

"Now now, let's all get along," Amane said, trying to be the voice of reason in his own flirtatious way. Jin eventually conceded and took a seat, as did Tsubaki as she made sure to sit next to Jin and Weiss. "A question though, where is the other member of your team… Blake I believe?"

"She said she was going to try and get some training in so she'd take care of the assignment later," Yang informed on her partner's behalf. "I wouldn't say she's bitter, buuuuuut… well, yesterday was sort of a wake up call for her."

"Yester-? Ah, I see then," Amane said, as he and everyone else at his table gained the reason.

The library group managed to make some strides in their studies; it was long hard and all around grueling work. They had managed to go a solid half hour before Yang flopped forward in yet another groan.

"Ugh…" she sighed sadly. "This would be so much easier if Ragna was here…"

"My brother?" Jin asked, a harsh glare beneath his thin framed glasses. "What makes you think of _him_ , woman?"

"The name's Yang, _Ice Boy_ ," the heavy hitter responded in kind along with returning her own glare. Everyone else backed up at the obvious tension between the two. Though there wasn't a clear victor to the trade off, Yang eventual gave a short sigh as she dropped her scowl. "Not only is has he read ahead really far, he… he just seems to _get_ Grimm studies, I mean like he could write his own book on the stuff."

"Is that so? He's that informed on the subject?" Jin questioned before shaking his head. "Hmph, I never knew."

"You didn't? Aren't the two of you supposed to be brothers?" Weiss Schnee asked. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ever further as Jin slowly turned to face the silver haired maiden. Jin's glare in his emerald green eyes was absolutely menacing as Weiss had to fight hard not to tremble beneath his unending malice.

"If you _must_ know, my brother and I had been separated for the better part of a decade," he informed. Though his tone was steady, it was so emotionless that it would have been more bearable if he was showing some form of rage. "Don't comment on things that you don't have the information on; as an heir to the Schnee legacy you should know that much." Give Jin one thing; he knows how to hit you where it hurts.

"Then tell us all here one thing," Yang demanded as her scowl returned to match Jin's. "Why the hate for the guy? Do you have something to prove or is this just some sort of twisted game to you?"

"Guys… can't we get along and save this for later?" Ruby asked trying to dissolve the tension. Already there were several students peeking out from behind the shelves, watching the drama unfold.

"Why not let them _try_ to work things out? It would make things easier for your dear friend, would it not?" Amane asked, still not lacking his flirtatious composure.

"Maybe… but… shouldn't Ragna at least be here to weigh in?" the young huntress tried to suggest. That one last mention of his brother's name seemed to be the final straw for Jin. Collecting his books, the Kisaragi heir rose to his feet and began to walk away, though he did stop for a moment.

"Since you seem dead set on _hounding_ me about this, I'll be forward; I do have something to prove to my brother, but that is something between us," he tone was serious and even though they couldn't look him in the eye, everyone at the table knew this wasn't something he could just make. "Honestly though… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bitter about him abandoning me."

"A-Abandoning? What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss demanded, but Jin wasn't in the mood for saying anything further on the subject. "Hey!" The blonde said nothing on his way out of the Library. As expected, Tsubaki then rose from her chair to follow him.

"I doubt that what I can say will change your mind, but just be aware that my partner will cause you nothing but trouble… He does that wherever he goes."

"Biased much?" Yang muttered as the study session seemed to only be going from bad to worse.

"Hardly… he told me as much when I first met him." And then there were four, the three girls of RWBY (RWY) and one Amane Nishiki who remained an observer to the events.

"...I don't think we're going to be getting much studying done now," Ruby said with a sigh. "Maybe we should call it quits for today everyone, our assignment isn't due for a while anyways."

"Right, we should ask Ragna for help and let him weigh in," Yang said, clearly happy that she wasn't going to be in the library for much longer. What she wasn't happy with was the hesitation that she saw from Weiss and Ruby. "Come on, don't tell me you actually believe what those two were saying about him?"

"I'm not saying that I believe them… but Jin _is_ Ragna's brother, he's told us all as much. Also, he's never been to open about his past. We don't really know all that much about him, do we?"

"It's not like everyone's spilled their guts about life before the academy when they first met anyways," Yang reminded with an eye roll. "I know enough about him to know not to listen to that _Ice Boy_ or Tsubaki. Come on, Ruby do you think Ragna's a bad person just because Jin said one thing that's bad about him?"

"No… but maybe we should give him some room, it looks like he's been having a bad day dealing with his team and his punishment already," the team leader said, remembering what had happened when she'd run into Ragna earlier in the hallway. "I promised I'd save him a seat at dinner later, so let's just see him then."

"Right, right," Yang said with a sigh. "Guess we'll have to hold off for a bit."

 _ **Substory Three: Dark Vengeance**_

' _What am I doing here besides wasting my time?'_ Blake thought to herself as she looked at the training dummies in front of her. They were covered in the cuts that she'd made with _Gambol Shroud_ , both close up as a cleaver and in its chain whip form. Compared to how she normally was though, not only was her aim off but it also looked like her slashes were far from clean and didn't cut half as deep as it normally would. Even her gunfire was starting to miss, further adding to the cat fanus's ire.

' _I should probably quit while I'm still ahead_ ,' she sighed as she put her weapons away and began putting the dummy parts that she'd cut into the _used bin_ so that the Academy could try and salvage what parts they could for new dummies. ' _What's wrong with me? I've never taken a loss this badly… even when it was to Kagura of all people._ '

The events weighing heavily on Blake's mind had happened just the day prior. Directly after Jaune's comeback fight with Cardin, Ragna had been instructed to face off against her in his first one-on-one mock fight. Despite being the quiet and shadowy member of _RWBY_ , Blake was ever so slowly starting to trust the Reaper, at least enough that he would give her a fair fight without her asking… what she'd gotten was a quick loss in under a minute without so much as seeing Ragna's weapon transform (something she'd only heard about from Ruby) or his still unrevealed _Semblance_. The Reaper had told her that it had been a good fight (his exact wording had more swearing to it), but she couldn't help but feel a little bitter at the events.

' _Maybe I should have gone to the library with the rest of my team instead of wasting my time in the training room,'_ she thought bitterly to herself, realizing that now not only was she behind them on the assignment that they'd been given, her mood had worsened and her skills seemed to have taken a hit that day as well. ' _If I can-'_

"DAMMIT! RIGHT IN MY EYE!" came familiar swearing from down the hallway. Though the doors were closed, there was no mistaking the vulgar mouth of Ragna the Bloodedge coming from one of the side kitchens with a _Closed for Maintenance_ sign outside. Per usual, he sounded pretty pissed meaning that Blake should give him some room. "COME ON! MY OTHER EYE?!" ...then again, how worse could she make his attitude? Giving a sigh as she figured she could at least try to improve her mood by talking things out with the Reaper, she opened the door only to be meet with an overbearing smell of cleaning supplies along with something much more foul.

"Ugh, what is that?" she gagged as she covered her nose to try and block out the scent. Though Ragna had made some headway since Noel's 'accident' much of the wall remained completely splattered with deadly goop. The Reaper himself was covered in chunks of the stuff and was swearing as he tried to find a way to break the material off of the wall. It took a moment, but he paused once he noticed her staring at him.

"Didn't you see the sign outside? If I were you I'd book it the hell out of here; this stuff is nasty," the Reaper told her, right before his expression turned dire. "Look ou-!"

 _ **SPLAT!**_

Ragna's warning came too late as a large chunk of the goop that Blake had been disgusted with fell straight onto her head, covering her head and her bow in its disgusting texture. She gave a high pitched yelp and a shudder as she leapt in the air before rapidly clawing at the stuff to try and get it off before it could set. Luck wasn't on her side and the stuff seemed to stick in chunks.

"...Well this stinks," Ragna muttered as he put his current work on hold for a moment in order to try and help Blake. "Not gonna lie, this will hurt."

He was honest at least, as Ragna tried his best to pry off the material from her hair Blake tried her best to fight back a pained scream. After a few minutes of this, she slowly started to get used to the pain, but that wasn't making it any better. As gentle as Ragna was trying to be, Blake still had to wince every time he so much as tugged on a clump.

"At least I'm not doing this with Yang," he said with a touch of dark humor. "She probably would've put me through the wall by now…"

"Not like it would've mattered much to you," Blake told him as she gave a short pained grunt as Ragna again pulled at her hair.

"Hey even if I'm a hardass that doesn't mean I like to be put in pain," he told her with a chuckle, but Blake wasn't smiling. "Alright, something's on your mind… what's up with you?" Ragna asked as he took a small knife to try and cut the thick material.

"Can I ask you something?" Ragna didn't say anything, only giving her a hesitant nod. "Why don't you use your semblance? I've never once seen you use it since you've gotten to this academy… Is it because you think you're so much stronger than everyone else?"

"...This is about yesterday isn't it?" Ragna asked as he seemed to again find his way through Blake's intent. "Look, I told you that you gave me a good fight, what more do you want?"

"I fought with you with everything I had, but you still managed to beat me in under a minute," Blake told him. "It… it felt a little demeaning…"

"Yeah, well it's not like I'm perfect in a fight anyways. Remember when you and I teamed up that one time?" Ragna asked, focusing harshly as he had to struggle on a piece of Noel's cooking while trying to not to hurt Blake more than he already had.

Yesterday hadn't been the first time that the two were in the ring at the same time, in fact on one of the _Random Partner_ days the two had been tasked to team up alongside each other against Nora and another girl named Nebula who was a leader of her own team, _NDGO._ They'd won that fight rather handedly even if Nora proved to pack a decent punch even without charging up. The problem with their team had been Ragna's seemingly skilless style of brute force and Blake calling him out on his reckless nature, though she and the rest of RWBY had to admit that they had made a force to be reckoned with.

"I guess not…" Blake said softly to his earlier question. Ragna just rolled his eyes before he managed to get the last few pieces out.

"Well there's that done with, but your hair's probably going to smell like the stuff until you take a long shower," the Reaper warned. "That and… your bow's still got a lot of gunk on it."

"Great…" the cat said with a sigh knowing the trouble she would be in without it.

"You got a spare?" Ragna asked as he threw the bits he'd gotten off of Blake into the trash.

"I have a few in my room, but I'd rather not walk down the hallways with this… stuff on it," she admitted. "...Is it bad?"

"Pretty damn bad, yeah…" the Reaper had to admit. "I can bar the door if you want to try and scrape off what you can here and now. Might save you a little face at least."

"That seems like a good idea," Blake admitted as Ragna headed over and locked the doors by putting a broom through the handles. Undoing her bow, she managed to take off the piece and reveal her short cat ears for the first time in a while.

"...So that's what your ears look like," Ragna noted as he tried to get back to his work, Blake showing a powerful blush as she realized he was seeing her her Fanus features. "...Cute."

' _Cute!?'_ she thought to herself, not sure whether to by angry or embarrassed, but settling for a mix of the two. "Eyes to yourself!"

"Jeeze, it was just a compliment. Sorry if I didn't know you were so protective of those things," he told her with any eye roll as he resumed scraping the walls.

"There's a reason I wear this bow," she muttered as she tried to get off what gunk she could in the sink, not expecting much of a miracle.

"Yeah, well I already knew what you were, so big whoop… and honestly I don't see why you have to hide it. There are Fanus' on campus aren't there?"

"And they're prosecuted, same as anywhere else," Blake reminded him. "Remember that girl Cardin was bullying?"

"How could I not? That was the first time you said more than two words to me," Ragna bit back humorlessly. "And what happened? I beat his ass into the ceiling, that's what. You seen anyone pulling crap like that since then?"

"No… but I still see what people can do. If they don't disdain us, then they fear us," Blake sighed. "It's always been like that."

"...This have something to do about the _White Fang_?"

Blake froze at Ragna's question, sweat starting to pool on her forehead. First the fact that she was a Fanus and now this… was there nothing that she could secret from him? Ragna noticed the reaction and just shook his head and continued his work.

"Secret's safe with me… I don't any reason to rat you out and you've never been an ass to me," the Reaper told her, noticing Blake's scowl. "Damn… what the hell I gotta say so that you know I'm not looking for leverage?"

"It's a little hard to believe you when you've got all of your secrets," Blake admitted trying for some kind of answer about Ragna's self. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it really was a need to 'get even'... maybe it was something else. Ragna sighed, trying to figure out how to say this.

"I… I like you, Blake. I like you a lot actually," he admitted. Ragna turned and those he trouble looking her dead in the eyes, he still managed while scratching the back of his head with something of a pathetic smile. "Maybe you got some shit you're still trying to hide, but… at the same time I think you're still awesome. You got guts and you won't walk away from all of the shit hitting the fan… I guess what I mean is I admire you."

"Oh… well," Blake wasn't sure what to say. This didn't exactly feel all like a confession and truthfully if anything she'd always seen Ragna doing this sort of thing with either Yang or Ruby (maybe Weiss, but eh). She couldn't say that she had _those_ feelings for him… but maybe it was starting to become a little easier to _Ulitvg Zwzn_ open up around him. "I-"

" _And that's why I don't use my semblance on you."_

Ragna interruption was quick and harsh, immediately breaking her out of the idea that he was trying to confess his feeling like a scene from one of her romance books. His tone and complexion had turned deadly serious, made all the darker by his contrasting hair color and skin tone.

"It… dammit, I feel like a total hypocrite, but there's a lot about my _Semblance_ I just can't talk about," he admitted. "One thing I can tell you is that my master just had to take one look at it… He took one look and he said it was probably the deadliest _Semblance_ known to Remnant."

"It's that powerful?" Blake asked, realizing the Ragna might've been holding onto a powerful ability.

"It's that _dangerous_ ; to both friend and foe," Ragna told her as he thought back to his days training with Jubei. "My teacher could only _tell_ me about how to master my semblance when it got stronger, he didn't stay for when I tried to put it into practice… I can only hope that I've got it under control for when I need to put it to work."

"You mean it's like an ace up your sleeve?"

"In a weird way, yeah; I won't hesitate to bring it out if the cost of keeping it hidden is me dying," the Reaper conceded. "But besides that…" His fist shook at how hard he was gripping it and he grit his teeth so hard it became painful. "There's only one asshole out there that I'm ready to use it on…"

' _...He… he's fighting for revenge then…'_ Blake thought to herself. ' _I guess given what I know about him and the way he acts that makes some sense._ '

"I hope you're happy, now you've got some dirt on me," Ragna told her with a sigh. "Do me a favor will ya and tell Ruby and the others? They don't need to hear this just yet."

"And with you telling me that I shouldn't be keeping secrets?" Blake accused as she looked to her ribbon something that she hadn't even started to clean.

"...Alright, how about this then," Ragna said to her as an idea started to form in his mind. "I'll make you a deal… as soon as you're willing to talk to your friends about who you really are, I'll be there to spill my secrets." He gave a small smirk, at first it was his usual snarky one, but then Blake saw it slowly turn to something more well meaning. "And I'll have your back when you need it, that's a promise."

"...I guess I could accept that," Blake said, feeling something she wasn't quite sure how to interpret. That was when she noticed Ragna had extended his hand to her, his pinky finger outstretched. "You're serious?"

"Erk! Sorry…" Ragna said with a blush as he brought the hand down. "It was a way a used to make promises with my… with someone close to me."

' _Another secret he's keeping…'_ Blake thought to herself before raising her own hand and stretched her pinky finger out. Ragna didn't have a response, only shaking it with her own. ' _Guess I'll have to wait and see if he can talk then too_ …'

 _Later_

Once Blake had finally managed to scrub her ribbon down and had left to hopefully change her bow out for a fresher one, Ragna had managed to knuckle down and finally make it through cleaning the disgusting kitchen. It was tiring, demeaning, and for anyone else it might've be a little traumatizing (Noel was the one who'd cooked after all), but he'd finally managed to finish. Knowing that he couldn't half-ass this with someone like Goodwitch dolling out his punishment, he'd also made good to polish the counters and equipment until it shone brightly, making sure it would be ready for its next use.

"Glad to see that you took your work seriously," Ragna heard the professor say from behind him as he admired his handiwork. Despite her compliment, it was quite clear that Goodwitch wasn't going to be giving him a smile, understandable considering the only reason he'd had to work here in the first place was as a form of punishment. "You were in here for quite some time."

"...Trust me when I say that the stuff was near impossible to get out," Ragna said with a sigh. "Am I off the clock?"

"You are, but I'm afraid you're not free to go just yet," Goodwitch told him. The Reaper tried not to groan; what the hell was it now? "Professor Ozpin has asked to speak with you."

"What does he want?" he questioned disdainfully, feeling he'd already had to put up with enough crap for a single day.

"I'm afraid I don't know, I'm only supposed to bring you to him." That struck Ragna as odd because as elusive and enigmatic as the professor was, he always seemed to keep Goodwitch well informed. "If you will..."

Seeing as he didn't have much of a choice, he began following Goodwitch through the hallways to Ozpin's office. She wasn't talking to him at all on the way there and that suited him fine… until he took a look at the clock and realized what time it was.

"Damn, almost time for dinner," he swore, something which Goodwitch had long since given up on trying to keep him from doing. "Is this gonna take long, 'cause I kinda made a promise to a friend of mine about dinner."

"That's up to Ozpin, and please… try and show _a little_ respect. Being Jubei's apprentice doesn't give you free reign of the campus."

"Tch, you say to the guy who just had to put in two days of work because of that," Ragna muttered.

"As long as you're aware of your standings," the teacher said to him, only for Ragna to give another groan.

 _ **Substory Four: A Deal**_

Ozpin's office was nothing new to Ragna; he'd already been here twice before, once to register for the academy with a note from his master and an additional second time immediately after he'd cleared the entrance exam. Ozpin was waiting for him looking out of his window with a cup of warm coffee in his hands. He turned to Ragna as he entered and gave a small smile.

' _Well… it sure as hell doesn't look like I'm in trouble,'_ Ragna thought to himself with a little relief. "You wanted to see me?"

"I did," Ozpin said casually before motioning to his coffee pot and tea kettle. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

"...No thanks, hoping to head to dinner after this anyways," he told him passively, though a bit of his tone did indicate that he just wanted to get out of here. Goodwitch was wise enough to pick up on that and gave a slight glare at Ragna for his attitude.

"In that case I hope to not keep you too long," Ozpin said as he took a seat. "Tell me, have you spoken to Jaune D'Arc since his match yesterday?"

"Only once, just wanted to thank me for helping him," the Reaper informed.

"I see, and do you know what he's been doing since then?" Ozpin asked.

"I haven't seen him, but from the sound of things he's been trying to get stronger by working with the rest of his team," Ragna answered again, wondering when Ozpin would decide to get to the point.

"Yes, Goodwitch had told me about the private lessons you'd been giving him, and while I'm sure that you've been told several times that you might've done this in a smarter matter-"

"I get it already, jeeze," he interrupted. Ozpin didn't seem to mind and only smiled wistfully.

"I had a feeling… By the by, did you know that Jaune had faked his entrance credentials to get into the academy?" Ragna didn't respond. "I hadn't called him out on it, as I was curious above all else… but now it seems that he might be earning his place here, with a little help from you of course."

"...And you're telling me this why?" the Reaper asked.

"Well, let's just bring up your own records for a minute shall we?" Ozpin said as he brought out Ragna's files and turned through them. "Despite your attitude suggesting you to be a delinquent, your grades are all above average to varying degrees. You're even at the top of your class in _Grimm Studies_ and you've gone undefeated in the Mock Battles, no doubt a side effect of your time traveling the outlands with Jubei,"

' _Damn, I'm actually getting some praise here, what the hell is this?'_

"Though… to some degree I think you could afford to do better. There's one area that you're struggling in and that's likely dragging the rest of you down even further; your relationship with you team."

' _This shit again.'_ "Look about Tsubaki-"

"You were right to ask that I keep her here; much of her standing in the academy is aligned with yours. She's even broken up many fights and has taken a role in preventing racism toward _Faunus_ at the academy. Her marks are all strong and she's an able combatant… yet the two of you can't seem to get along if your lives depend on it which is nothing to say of what happens when your brother is involved."

"...She's never really given me a chance and Jin… well there's a reason he's like this," the Reaper sighed. "The rest of my team is… well they aren't much help. Azrael just want to find a reason to go toe to toe with me and Noel's… Noel."

"Which is why I called you in here today; I'd like to make something of a deal with you," Ozpin told him as he took out a few forms along with a pen. "There a small half room that we keep in the dorm just down the hall from where you currently stay. This one hasn't been used in a couple of months so you'll have to clean it yourself if you decide to move in, but given your work today I don't that will be much of an issue for you."

"Let me get this straight. You're offering me a room that I can stay in… a room that's separate from the rest of my team?" Ragna wasn't the only one surprised at the proposal, even Goodwitch herself seemed to be taken aback at Ozpin's idea.

"Indeed, but there are three conditions that I'll need for you to follow," Ozpin told him. "First off this is an effort to help you perform better without the needless stress. If I see a decline in your grades or that you're not taking your academy work seriously then I'll reconsider and move you back immediately."

' _That's fair so far,'_ Ragna thought to himself.

"Second, this is only going to be a temporary measure so you'll have to get on fair ground with your team _eventually_. You have until the beginning of next semester to get everyone to see eye to eye with each other… and moving you out of your current room may already cause some tension."

"More work for me then." ' _That's definitely going to be the hardest part to this.'_ "And what's the third thing?"

"An event for the academy, one that I need your help with," Ozpin told him. "Tell me, in the time you travelled the outlands did you ever see a _Grimm's Day_ festival?"

"...In a few small villages, yeah."

 _Grimm's Day_ was a bit of an… odd celebration. It wasn't exactly one that people would look forward to every year or even participate in, but it wasn't outright outlawed either. The point to these festivals was that adults would go out into the city dressing as the Grimm-like costumes. Considering that the Grimm were seen as such monster, these costumes would often look nothing like them or even look so exaggerated that they were hard to take seriously and easy to have a laugh at. Another part of this ceremony was the children that would often dress up as a more mythical take as a _Hunter_ or _Huntress_ and would run around pretending to slay the creatures. There was some resentiment with the celebration, like with the safety risks of dressing up as Grimm and as such these festivals were something of a rarity.

"I want you to organize and host a _Grimm's Day_ festival at the academy," Ozpin told the Reaper. Seeing Ragna was ready to protest, the professor put his index finger up to instruct the student to hear him out. "While you've never struck me as a party student, I can only assume that such an activity could help to integrate you into _Beacon's_ social circles all the more. Pair that with your mentioned talent in _Grimm Studies_ and you make for an obvious choice."

"Come on, you can't really believe that," Ragna muttered. "I don't know anything about decorating, getting costumes ready, planning events. Why me?"

"I never said you'd be doing such a thing _alone_ ," Ozpin told him before smirking. "Certainly you've made at least one or two friends while you've been here? I'm sure if you went to them for help they could lend a helping hand?" Ozpin then took a long sip of his coffee. "I'll be sending you the details such as budget in supplies in the coming weeks. Speak to Goodwitch to exchange keys after you've had dinner and you can move yourself to your new room… though that would make for even more cleaning today."

"Tch, not like that's a problem; I'd move in now if Ruby hadn't already promised me a seat at dinner with her team," the Reaper muttered as he headed into the elevator and the door closed behind him.

"...His attitude still needs some adjustment," Goodwitch said to the headmaster.

"That much we can both agree with, but let's see what he can do with these gifts that he's been given," Ozpin said before turning serious. "Though… I can't help but find one thing odd in all of this. The parallels between Ragna and _Team RWBY_ … and the _Story of the Seasons_."

"If I remember correctly, this was something that you helped to make when you talked to Miss Xiao Long. Are you really that surprised?"

"Maybe not… but then again there were already signs before our discussion. I simply wanted to make sure that Ragna's Grimm attracting nature didn't go out of control. But you can't deny the similarities."

"...I don't wish to take something this serious at face value," Goodwitch said. "If you'll excuse me, I need to find that key we promised him."

Nodding in acknowledgement Ozpin took out a few additional sheets of paper, many of them were listed important via the sending of one James Ironwood. No doubt something about the progress he was making in his mobile weaponry development. Ozpin began looking over the documents, but couldn't help but let his mind wander.

Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Ragna had finally made his way to dinner, albeit still covered in some of the gunk from Noel's cooking. Ragna had already been plenty late to dinner, so _Team RWBY_ had been kind enough to set him up with a ready made plate. Ruby had caught sight of him and eagerly waved him over to her table. Yang of course made a cringe worthy joke to him about janitor duties while Weiss had to comment on the Reaper's current smell. Blake remained passive as usual, reading her book while adjusting a backup ribbon… though she did send him a small smile. The Reaper chuckled as he took his seat, readying himself for whatever insanity was going to happen during dinner.

"One thing's for certain," Ozpin mused back at his desk. "This will almost certainly be an interesting semester…"

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hey guys, managed to get a chapter out by Friday! YES! I may have gone silent for a while, but I like to think that I'm slowly getting back on track. At this pace expect a chapter either by next week or the following depending on the chapter's length.**_

 _ **Well this is another experimental chapter that I wanted to try out. Originally when I came up with the idea I had a very different direction for how this chapter would go, but then I realized that I needed to make sure several factors were set up.**_

 _ **Since I promised a special 'Halloween Update,' I'll likely try and post another one or two chapters before that deadline to make sure I'm ready. Now for some review responses.**_

 _DarkBeast42_ : Heh, interesting alternate take, but I think Tsubaki's cruelty is a little too 'in your face.' Ragna's a bit of a pessimist at times, hence why I have him insult himself, but maybe I have had him do it a little much lately.

 _Wlyman2009_ : Because everyone was too obsessed with 'Bullet Proof Frying Pans.' Not much plugging in today's reviews though.

 _EpicLinkSam_ : Sans the bicycle, but pretty much.

 _SomeGuy_ and _silversean25_ : ...There might be a reason to that, just hang in there.

 _The Unplanner_ : Heh, I sort of had a bit of a smile on my face when I was writing Jaune blocking Cardin's first strike.

 _Althea Sirus_ : I'm all for it myself… just as long as they don't add _Senran Kagura_ , but I'm going to have to wait and see for that one.

 _ragriz_ : Eh, everyone has their own opinion on Jaune and as long as they're not obnoxious about it I can certainly understand where you're coming from.

 _makeanotherone_ : All things to consider down the line I'm sure.

 _Guest(1)_ : Soon enough, I've been going back to rewatch the anime and iron out some details here and there.

 _WideBrimmedHat_ : DON'T SHOVE GRANDMA!

 _Guest (2)_ : Again, more things to consider down the road.

 _fernandamicmichelleraya_ : That they do, even in _Cross Tag's_ story mode Ragna's looking out for her… and the P4 cast when she was too busy shooting at him.

 _ **Until next time! Ciao!**_


	10. Snow White

_**Crimson X: Snow White**_

"You're just now getting up?" Weiss asked in surprise as she found Ragna making his way back from the showers with a towel over his shoulder. Even if he could fall asleep in class (he tried his damndest not to) Ragna was still oft to rise early and try to avoid his team. As of today though, breakfast had ended almost an hour ago and Weiss and her team had been wondering where on earth the Reaper was… or if their argument with Jin Kisaragi had pushed the blonde over the edge.

"Well excuse me; this was the first time in a damned long while that I had any chance on catching up on my sleep, so I sure as hell needed to make sure it counted," Ragna told the Shnee heiress as he stifled a yawn. His hair wasn't so pointed in the air as it usually was thanks to the remaining moisture weighing it down "Hell, might actually be tempted to sleep for the rest of today since it's Sunday."

"I'm not letting you waste your entire day away!" Weiss scolded him. "Ruby and Yang are even in the library trying to get Blake caught up on our assignment for Professor Port and I don't think that you've even begun it!"

"Yeah, well I'm not seeing you in there either. What's your excuse?" Ragna asked with a smirk, only for it to go snarky as he noticed Weisses blush when she's called out.

"I… just wanted to check on you… RIGHT! To make sure YOU weren't falling behind in your studies!" Weiss accused him. Stopping in his casual walk right in front of the door to his new room, Ragna turned to face the girl as she glared at him with her knuckles on her hips, looking very authoritative… a look that was immediately shattered as Ragna poked her on forehead and destroyed her composure. "Hey!"

"Lay off it will ya? I've already got _Goodwitch_ to worry about," Ragna told her as he brought out his key and opened the door, giving Weiss a first look of where Ragna was staying now. His new room was about half the size of her own, which made sense. He had a twin-sized bed to sleep in with _Aramasa_ resting beside it, a small dresser to keep his clothes and other supplies, a bin for keeping dirty laundry, and a desk; not a photo or decoration in sight. "...Something wrong?"

"Your room looks rather barren," Weiss told him.

"Course it does, just cleaned it," Ragna told her, giving her some hope. "That and I'm not the decorative type." And immediately killed it.

"If you're going to be in this room for the rest of the semester you'd ought to make sure it makes for a nice place to live in," Weiss told him.

"And what do you care about it?" he countered before muttering under his breath. "If it were Yang and Ruby I'd get it, but you?"

"But… me?" Weiss asked before growing angry. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

' _Shit, did I say that out loud?_ ' Ragna thought to himself with worry. "You're just… much more serious than they are, you know? I mean-?"

"Are you saying I'm not _fun_?" she demanded again. Truth was Ragna while hadn't wanted to say that, he sort of _thought_ it and Weiss was no idiot.

"...In my defense, you do yell at me a lot," he reminded. "Kind of like you are now." That seemed to give Weiss a moment's pause to reconsider.

"...In that case, what say we head into town?" she offered, surprising Ragna. "I'll help you find something for your room as _your friend_ and you'll have to admit I'm fun with how much you're going to enjoy spending time with me."

' _Why is she looking at me like this is some kind of a challenge?_ ' Ragna thought to himself with worry. ' _And if it's a challenge, Weiss can't back down from it._ ' "...You know what? Fine, if it gets us both out of writing that damn assignment I'm all for it."

"We'll still have to do the assignment later this week you realize," Weiss told him, trying to retain her appearance of responsibility.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Ragna grumbled to himself. "And I'll be there to help you and the rest of your team."

"Good, because with how much Yang was complaining last night I think she'd be lost without you," Weiss told him before becoming silent as she thought back to some of yesterday's _other_ events.

"Something wrong? You're looking pretty damn serious about something," Ragna questioned as she saw her expression.

"I...It's nothing, let's get going," Weiss asked walking out of the Reaper's room. He didn't have much to say to her in contrast, so he gave a shrug and began following her.

' _I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bitter about him abandoning me,'_ Jin Kisaragi had vaguely said the day prior.

' _I know what Jin told us, but I still don't think that Ragna's the type to just abandon his brother… he might be vulgar, rude, and stubborn to no end, but he can be surprisingly well meaning when he tries to be,'_ Wiess thought to herself before picking up her stride, her confidence restored in full. ' _Not to mention he's not bad danc…'_

"Something wrong, you're falling behind when this was your idea," Ragna chastised her as the Shnee heir was starting to fall behind. Turning behind, he raised an eyebrow at the key detail of Weiss's current complexion. "Why in the hell are you blushing?"

"I-I am not blushing!" she exclaimed angrily. Bad enough that Ragna could rattle her, but now that he could see her like this it was infuriating.

"If you say so, _Snow White_."

Oh HELL NO; he was NOT going to get away with giving her a new nickname. Weiss growled as she tried to kick his shin… sadly her aim was a little off and she instead kicked his metal shoe plate.

"Err!" she grunted, trying to restrict her swearing to an _internal_ matter as she hopped around Ragna while gripping her wounded foot.

"If you keep hopping around like that, Amane's going to think you're coming up with a new dance style," the Reaper informed while doing his damndest not to look smug. The glare he was getting from Weiss was evidence he wasn't doing well. "...I buy us lunch while we're out?"

"...You better, and I get to decide where we eat," she told him, picking up her stride to where she and the Reaper were walking side-by-side.

" _Yare yare daze…_ " the Reaper muttered while scratching the top of his head. "Just don't go overboard on me; I'm a tight budget right now."

"That's not what Yang's been telling me, in fact I heard that you haven't spend any of the money that you've earned with her," Weiss said, gaining a small victory as Ragna cringed. "Let's face it, you'll just have to be kind to me if you don't want my cravings to turn expensive."

"...For someone who's entire gimmick is the color white, you seem to be pretty damn comfortable with blackmail," he told her as the two made their way out of the building.

"It's called being business savvy; I've learned a lot by watching my family work," she told him proudly.

"Just use it to net me some decent deals today, alright?" Ragna asked with a hint of begging mixed in.

"Of course I'll help you save money, after all I'm _such a nice person_ ," Weiss told him, obviously expecting some form of a compliment. She didn't get one and this time her aim _wasn't_ off.

"Ouch."

 _In Town_

"So… how about we get you something like this?" Weiss asked as she pulled a small digital alarm clock off of the wall. "It won't take up much space in your room, it's got a nice and sleek design, and not only does it tell time but it also gives you a date and temperature as well."

"Yeah… so does my scroll," Ragna informed as he scratched the back of his head. The store they were shopping in seemed to have a large variety of things to homey things to choose from so Weiss had though it would be a good idea to start here.

"Hmm… how about this one then?" Weiss asked as she picked something nearby and brought it up to show Ragna.

"That is also a clock," Ragna observed helpfully. "And this one ain't even digital."

"It's not about _telling time_ , it's about _aesthetic,_ " Weiss told him as she tried to show off the old style wooden one. "And I think this one has plenty to offer."

"You think so?" he asked, a little curious to see what Weiss saw in the old fashioned tool.

"Of course. The wood seems to be a nice light shade, the numbers are made from a strong alloy and have a good roman numeral style, and there are even little tiny doors next to a small track meaning it will probably do something whenever it hits an hour."

' _Tch, I'm not some kid looking for some cheap entertainment from a clock of all things,_ ' Ragna thought, knowing he should keep such complaints to an internal level.

Playing with the hands on the clock, he brought it to its next hour. As expected the small object gave a few low chimes to signal the passing of time, but then the two doors opened to reveal a tiny king doll on one side and a queen doll on the other. The two came out of their respective doorways, turned towards and approached each other on the track, then leaned forward to mimic kissing before returning to inside the clock.

"...No offense, but if anyone saw this in my room they'd probably think I was a bigger creep than they already do," Ragna said with a sigh. Weiss couldn't find it in her heart to disagree. "What else is there?"

"How about a nice candle?" Weiss asked as the moved to the next asiel. "This might make for a relaxing addition."

"That or it could set my entire place on fire," the Reaper muttered. "You know what kind of luck I have to deal with, I'd rather not risk it."

"You could just be careful for once," Weiss told him with a small glare, making Ragna wonder how much of the crap he'd been forced was his fault in her eyes. Taking a small _pumpkin_ candle off of the display, she undid the top and smelt it. "This one has a nice smell to it, and it's seasonal. Why don't you try something like this?"

"I told you, I don't want a-" Ragna tried to protest before the candle was shoved in his face. Taking a forced whiff of it, he visibly winced at the overwhelming aroma. "Dammit, people like these things?" he asked as he attempted not to gag.

"Some people find it relaxing… I can see that you're not the type," Weiss said to him in small understanding. "Maybe we could find one a little more… subtle?"

"Let's just move on, candles just don't look like they'd be my thing," he told her with a sigh before looking to the next section. "And here we have… rugs."

"This might actually be just what you need," she informed, leaving Ragna to raise an eyebrow. "What? Now when you wake up you can put your feet of a soft cushion for a few minutes instead of the cold hard floor. It's simple, it won't take up much room, and it can stylize your room just a little."

' _I guess we've got a winner, but seriously? A rug?_ ' Ragna thought to himself. "I guess out of everything here-"

"And you can always picture it as your rivals, knowing that you have the chance to stomp them out the first thing every morning!" Weiss said with almost exaggerated fierceness, momentarily tapping into her _Dictator Weiss_ persona. Ragna couldn't say anything in response, only staring blank faced at Weiss's display.

"Can I help either of you find something?" a clerk asked as she looked at the two.

"Yeah… I think I'll take one of those wool rugs," Ragna told her awkwardly.

 _Later_

"I can't believe that you went and got one of the white ones," Weiss muttered as the two white haired students walked down the streets with Weiss in plenty of a huff. Ragna had a small bag slung over his shoulder.

"For the record, I never said I was in line with your crazy way of thinking," he said, earning a small scowl from the Schnee heir. "So we done here?"

"Actually I was thinking that we could try and hit a few more shops that I've heard of," Weiss told him, leaving Ragna to give a shrug. "...That and you still owe me lunch."

"Right, right," the Reaper sighed as he followed behind Weiss. ' _I guess this is still easier than dealing with a certain SOMEONE… but not by a lot.'_ Keeping his mind from thinking of a certain annoyance, Ragna checked one of the windows and paused as he saw something that caught his eye. "...Looks like someone's selling a _Grimm Mask_."

"Not too big of a surprise, it is getting close to that time of year," Weiss told him before muttering under her breath. " _Unfortunately_ …"

"You don't like celebrating _Grimm's Day?_ " Ragna asked. While the Reaper could call Weiss stuck up most of the time he dealt with her, not enjoying _Grimm's_ day wouldn't be too big of a surprise. There reservations of dressing up as deadly creatures who some had taken the lives of loved ones for some people while others found it archaic, even if it gave the children to make believe and pretend to slay the monsters.

"Out of all of the holidays, I'd have to say that it would have to be my least favorite," Weiss told him darkly.

"Huh, any reason that you hate it so much?" the Reaper questioned.

"...Why do you want to know?" Weiss's tone made it clear that she was rather reserved on the subject.

"You mean besides the fact that we're friends?" Ragna asked rhetorically with a small smile at Weiss. "Well… the room that I got from Ozpin came with a price; I've got to hold a festival if I want to keep it. Might help if I know what I need to watch out for."

"In that case… I might not be the one to talk to for it, it happened a long time ago and…" Weiss was pausing a lot, Ragna noted.

"You don't have to continue, I was just curious."

"...When I was still very young, my father took my entire family to the estate of one of his key benefactors to seal a deal that would come to be one of our most important agreements," she began. " _Grimm's day_ had rolled around that time and the benefactor prided himself in throwing the best party that he could. My father didn't care for the holiday, but he said we were to attend and to _not mess things up_."

"Sounds… harsh," Ragna said bluntly. He could have added an insult if he wanted, but didn't feel much like mouthing off someone's father.

"Even as a child I was expected to behave in a way that would reflect well to the rest of the Schnee family," Weiss explained. "I didn't think this party would be much different from any other time I've had to attend a ball or sing at a formal gathering."

"Huh… didn't know you could sing," Ragna noted, admittedly a little curious how she sounded. "So you went to this party even though you didn't really want to?"

"On the contrary, I was actually rather excited for it; I had my own stylist to help me make a _Huntress_ costume ahead of time and as long as my father approved with it I could make whatever alterations I wanted. When it came time for the party however…"

"Something went wrong?" he guessed vaguely.

"...Promise you won't laugh?" Weiss told him, rather hesitant to surrender this information. "Or tell Ruby?" At Ragna's nod, she continued. "To start the party went well enough… but then the masks and costumes started to scare me, made all the worse when some of the party goers started to get careless in their scaring. I went to find my father, but he busy talking to his partner and just shooed me away. I tried to find my mother, but she had left to tend to my baby brother… I ended up crying in the corner for who knows how long before my older sister finally found me… I've never attended one of those parties since."

"That's…" Ragna started to say before smiling wistfully and shaking his head. "Heh…"

"You PROMISED that you wouldn't laugh!" Weiss exclaimed at the Reaper, getting passing glances from a few people on the streets, but she couldn't be bothered by that.

"I'm not laughing at _you_ , it's just…" Ragna scratched the back of his head, yet the smile remained. "Maybe you've got more of a soft side than you let on…" Weiss tried to come up with a retort. "Honestly, it's pretty frickin' adorable."

...By this point Weiss's internal scream would be _deafening_ as she looked at Ragna was a sense of horror and a crimson lit face. The Reaper wasn't sure what he had done, but it looked like he'd crossed the line somewhere.

"I…" she tried to say, slowly finding her voice. "I was a child when that happened!"

"So? You seem to remember it well enough," Ragna retorted as Weiss's blush showed little signs of fading. "All right, all right, that's enough teasing… If you don't want to come to the party, I won't say a word of it."

"...Part of being a _Huntress_ would be facing your fears," she admitted. "Though…"

"...You want to have a dance while we're there?" he asked. Weiss didn't respond volcaly, only giving the smallest of nods. "It's a promise, just don't expect too much without Amane forcing me to move."

"In that case I may have to give you a few lessons myself," Weiss told him before her smirk turned challenging. "And I happen to be a _very_ strict teacher."

"I don't doubt it," the Reaper muttered. "Alright, it's a date then." Though he'd worded it so casually, he half expected that Weiss would have had yet another outburst. He instead received little more than a nod as the two walked on. Not sure how he could take that reaction, he gave a nonchalant shrug and kept his eyes open for a shop that would suit his current decorating needs.

"By the way, that last comment pushed our dining experience to three stars _at least_ ," Weiss mentioned casually with a sly grin on her face.

' _...God dammit, Snow White._ '

 _Meanwhile -Training Room-_

"The moment I walk in, every damn coward knows to take a hike… It'd be a relief if I wasn't starving for some action," the Mad Dog growled to himself in annoyance. Not only had he not received any matches in the mock fights for the past few days, those mock fights he had been given were either over in an instant or stopped by _Goodwitch_ to keep it from getting out of hand… sometimes both. "Tch, this is getting too damn annoying…"

Crossing his arms and legs, he sat bitterly on the floor and continued to growl in solace. He didn't have anywhere he wanted to go and damn him if he was going to spend today working on the damn assignment that was setting everyone else in a tailspin. He already knew what he had to do if a _Grimm_ showed up; punch it until it went down and (hopefully) get serious if it didn't die after the first strike.

"Oh wow! So it was just you in here this whole time?" Azrael heard a female voice say as they walked into the training room. The owner of said voice was Nora _something_ (like he had made the effort to remember every student's name) and she had approached with her war hammer out like she was getting ready for a fight. "I was sort of expecting some sort of wild dog or something from the hallway… so am I right? I mean you are kind of a beast and people do keep calling you mad dog and-"

"I get it," Azrael interrupted to shut her up, not having as much patience as her partner Lie Ren.

"So… what's got you in such a bad mood then? I mean I think I saw half a classroom walk out of here terrified," Nora noted.

"Like I'm to blame for that, some of the students here are just too damn spineless when it comes to a real challenge. They'll try and act tough and ready for anything, but the moment I bare my fangs they're sulking away with their tails between their legs… more literally if they're a Fanus."

"I'm not sulking am I?" Nora asked, an eager smile on her face, making a clear implication.

"Tch? You?" Azrael asked before chuckling darkly. "You'd barely make an appetizer."

"What, you don't think I can go toe-to-toe with you?" she asked, her eager expression only seeming to grow.

"No, I don't. In fact I doubt you could last two-"

 _ **SMASH!**_

(Cue _Blazblue_ : _Chronophantasma_ **The Tyrant** )

Nora had brought her hammer down on the exact spot where Azrael had been sitting, only to hit solid floor instead of smashing the _Mad Dog_. Though it had left a small crater in the moves wake. Azrael had seemingly disappeared from sight in that short instant, but Nora only continued to smile as she turned behind her to where he was standing and waiting.

"Someone can't take a hint," he said, though such word were betrayed by his wicked and toothy grin. "You better not regret this!"

"Not a chance!" Nora shouted as she fired a shot from her weapon that sent her barreling forward. Flipping forward once, she swung a second time at the _Mad Dog_ with even greater power. Instead of dodging, this time Azrael elected to simply guard the attack with his forearm before shoving her back.

" _ **Gustav!**_ " Azrael shouted as he lunged and unleashed a deadly hook punch, barely missing as Nora managed to backstep the harsh blow. " _ **Tiger!**_ " A deadly jap forward with Nora managed to counter against with her hammer. " _ **Leopard!**_ " A skyward kick that knocked the weapon up and sent Nora off balance. " _ **Cobra!**_ " The finishing clothesline attack struck Nora dead on and sent her flying back. She'd barely managed to landed on her feet after rolling on the ground a few times, only to see Azrael charging up a massive attack.

" _ **Black Hawk… STINGER!**_ " Azrael's haymaker rush forward was as devastating as it was instantaneous and would have done some serious damage to Nora had she not blasted herself into the air with a last second rocket jump. Even though she'd avoided it, the sheer force from the shock wave was enough to brutally tear apart the wall a good distance away, exposing ripped wires and broken water pipes. Spinning around in midair and boost her swing with another blast, Nora managed to strike Azrael's guard and sent him skidding back on the floor. The blast didn't look like it had done much damage, but the _Mad Dog_ was certainly growing more excited with each passing exchange. Once again both of them rush forward for a full head on match up.

Azrael went for a full shoulder check while Nora stuck him with an overhead hammer blow. Azrael then shift his weight to to bring his left leg down in a devastating stomp but Nora managed to deflect the attack with her hammer heaven end before twisting it back around to block against Azrael's jab. The two then exchanged further blows with a full leg swing from the _Mad Dog_ and a full swing of Nora's hammer. Nora then backstepped to avoid a pinpoint finger jab from Azrael before actually getting a clean hit in by quickly smacking him with the hilt of her weapon. Comboing into it she performed a wide swing with her hammer only to see her opponent hadn't flinched from the blow.

Nora then felt the wind get forced out of her as Azrael's kick hit her dead in the gut and sent her flying back into the previously damaged wall, inflicting further damage in the wall. Azrael saw Nora get shocked by the voltage of the stay wires, only amplified by the water spilt on her by the broken pipes. Nora made her way to her feet, an ugly smile on her face.

"Did you forget? I ABSORB lightning!" she told him as she became coated in electricity.

"That was intentional; you're starting to make this fun!" Azrael said wickedly as he planted his fist into an open palm before getting a few cricks out of his neck. "Don't you dare falter now! It's been too long since I've gotten a proper fight!"

Once more Azrael's fist clashed with Nora's hammer head, only this time he felt the sting of electricity crackle against his bare palm. Such pain was little more than a tickle to him and he was much more invested in the increase to Nora's physical power. Setting off her weapon, Nora managed to blast Azrael's fist back and swung into and over head smash. Azrael countered by sending his fist into the air to knocking the attack away before whipping his head forward and sending Nora into the ground with the headbutt.

" _ **Tiger! Leopard! Cobra!**_ " Azrael shouted once more with each strike of his classic combo. Sending Nora skidding back on the ground. Using her weapon she managed to thrust herself into the air before blasting herself forward at Azrael full force.

" **GOOOO… DOWN!"** she shouted as she brought down the hammer on Azrael… only for the floor to crack in his place. He'd evaded her again, seemingly in an instant when she couldn't follow him. Turning her head behind her she saw Azrael smirking as he readied his final attack.

" _ **FULL SPAR-!**_ "

 _CRACKLE!_

"GAH! WHAT IS THIS!?" Azrael growled as he looked to his fist which had been in motion just a second ago, no fully coated in thick ice which had sprouted from the ground. Knowing there was one obvious source he turned his head to see Jin Kisaragi with his katana planted in the ground… accompanied by _Professor Goodwitch_.

( _End Theme_ )

"Have you two calmed down yet?" Goodwitch asked the two, making it quite clear that she was not pleased with either of them.

"...Can I get one more swing in at him?" Nora asked, still carrying a still adrenaline from the battle… which was quashed by Goodwitch's glare.

"Thank you mister Kisaragi, I think you can let him go now." Nodding, Jin took his sword out of the ground and let it faced away as the ice holding back Azrael shattered. "Has our poor training hall undergone enough destruction? First it's broken into regularly by Ragna the Bloodedge and now it's been broken by the two of you…" Waving her hand, the broken materials went back into the was and work-out machines to repair the room leaving only some spilt water and some shattered ice on the floor. "The two of you will be on Janitorial duties for the rest of the day… and I hope to see you show more restraint in the future."

"I've already got plenty," Azrael muttered to himself as he headed to get the cleaning supplies and begin his punishment. ' _More than anyone here knows anyways…_ '

"Is it wrong that I still think that was totally worth it?" Nora asked, only to receive glares from both Jin and Goodwitch. "No? ...Guess I'd better get to cleaning then."

"Those two…" Goodwitch sighed when they were both gone. "Not only them… but a few _other_ students from your year in particular seem to lack any tact."

"I've certainly noticed," Jin told her reservedly as he headed over towards the training dummies. "If you'll excuse me… I think I'll this opportunity for some practice myself."

"...If you insist, though I warn you we are starting to run low on manikins at the rate you cut through them and it may take some time to create more," she informed before leaving.

"...In that case I'll limit myself to a single one," Jin said bluntly, though she was no longer in the room. Jin stood reservedly a good fifteen feet away from one target. He didn't have _Yukianesa_ in his hand nor was he in a position to summon or draw it… but in the blink of an eye, the training dummy was reduced to countless needle thin chips, each one carved by a series of masterful strokes. Looking at the pile, Jin's expression remained as stoic as the ice he used.

 _ **Later**_

"Ugh… Did we really have to spend two whole days in the library?" Yang groaned to herself as she, Blake, and her little sister Ruby finally made their way into the school dormitories. "We barely got anything done anyways…"

"We got Blake caught up, so that's something," Ruby said before turning to her teammate with a smile, which was returned. "But.. did you change your ribbon? This one looks a bit different."

"I did, my last was ruined when it got some… _thing_ on it from the kitchen yesterday," Blake said, swearing her heard Noel's sigh coming from somewhere. "Thanks for getting me caught up though."

"No problem, but I swear that Ragna had better…" Yang's sentence was interrupted as the three saw Ragna and their missing member, Weiss heading down the hallway towards them.

"I still can't believe all you got was rug," Weiss sighed as she looked at the single bag Ragna was carrying.

"And I can't believe that food cost so damn much, it wasn't _that_ good," Ragna muttered. "Give me an hour in the kitchen and I'll knock your socks off more than that damn stuff could, you'll see."

"Oh? Is that a challenge or an offer?" Weiss asked him, actually showing a small smirk.

"Heh, whatever suits you _Snow White_ ," Ragna said and for once Weiss didn't protest the usage of the name. That's when Ragna say the rest of team RWBY waiting for them. "Yo, how's it-?"

"TRAITOR!" Yang said as she lunged forward. Before Ragna could protest she grabbed him by his collar and began shaking him violently. "Where were you today!? I thought you were going to finally help us on that assignment! Now I find you coming back with your date with Weiss!"

"D-Date?" Ruby asked as she turned to Ragna, who couldn't answer if he wanted to with how hard Yang was shaking him. "Y-Yang! I think you've proved your point!"

"Have I?" she said with a blazing scowl at Ragna as she kept holding onto his collar, staying right up in his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'll help you out soon, jeeze…" he sighed. "I mean, the days not over anyways. We can head to the library and…" Seeing Yang finally drop his collar and avert her gaze he rolled his eyes. "Really? You're yelling for my help but you can't take it now?"

"I was already in the library all day," Yang sighed. "Just… just make time for this week, alright? It's easier for all of us if you're there."

"Fine, as if I didn't have anything else to worry about, like planning an entire damn party," he muttered disdainfully only to get his collar grabbed again by Yang. "Huh?"

"...Did you say party?" Yang asked, making Ragna have an _oh shit_ moment as he came to the realization that he'd said that out loud. There was a reason he had avoided telling the group about his promise to Ozpin last night, and this blonde was that exact reason "You're hosting a party?"

"Yang…" Ragna tried to protest, only to have Ruby grab his arm and look at him with her own fierce gaze. "Eh?"

"Details," she demanded.

"Well… it's a _Grimms Day_ party… first in a while," Ragna said as he got continued pressure. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Blake give an involuntary shiver. He was about to address said movement only to get forcefully dragged off by Yang and Ruby. "HEY!"

"Time's-a-wastin'! We've decorations to buy! Flyer's to make! Food to order! Let's go! Let's go!" Yang told him as she continued to drag Ragna. "Ruby! Find a bakery that does catering! We'll need those supplies!"

"Aye Captain Yang!" she said with a salute before checking her scroll.

"Isn't Ruby supposed to be- THAT'S NOT THE POINT! LET ME GO! I ALREADY WENT INTO TOWN! LET ME GO!"

"PLANNING BEGINS NOW!" Yang and Ruby shouted in unison as they continued to drag off the helpless Reaper.

"You're… not going to stop them?" Blake asked Weiss.

"No, I'm smarter than to get in the middle of that," she responded with a small smirk as she noticed Ragna giving her a pleading look from afar. To add insult to injury, she then smiled brightly as she waved him off.

 _ **Author's Note (And Poll)**_

 _ **Well that's one chapter out. Here's hoping I can get another one before the Halloween one. Anyways, not a whole lot to say on this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it.**_

 _ **Poll:**_

 _ **Okay, so I know that I've done a bit of jumping around and that I've referred to plenty of prior events. I had initially planned to dedicate a chapter or two to some prior events (namely the entrance exam). As time went on though I realize I've had more and more events piling up. Which leads me to the poll on how I should handle this? You can vote to either:**_

 _ **Post these events as Omakes to fill in the gaps.**_

 _ **Create a separate story called 'Grimm Reaper's Supplemental' which will have separate chapters and can allow for longer selection (maybe even a gag reel or two)**_

 _ **The Poll will be up at the time of posting. So submit your vote there and let me know what you think in the reviews.**_

 _ **Anyways, reviews time.**_

 _Shadowedge27_ : Yeah, everyone really underestimates what Soul Eater means for both its user and its target.

 _pendragonZx_ : You're welcome and I'm glad you thought so.

 _Wlyman2009_ : You'll just have to wait and see.

 _VirusChris_ : Aw, thanks for the lengthy review as always.

 _The Unplanner_ : Yeah, the backstories are going to be a _bit_ different this time around… not going to say how though.

 _nbaMovie21_ : Eh… sorry, shipping's already been decided.

 _Kayen1024_ : I'll have to write some resolution _eventually_ … by the time he's 40 anyways.

 _Wlyman2009_ : An interesting idea… I'll have to consider it

 _Althea Sirius_ : You'll just have to wait and see… and yeah, a Halloween update was long overdue.

 _ **Until Next Time! Ciao!**_


	11. Retaliation

_**Crimson XI: Retaliation**_

"It's finally time for the last class of friday!" Ruby shouted with excitement as she pumped a first in the air along with her sister. "All of our assignments are turned in to Professor Port, we lived through this week's killer tests, meaning it's finally time for us-"

"To continue planning an epic party!" Yang finished, the smile on her face even brighter than it usually was. If Ruby knew her sister, she knew if there was one thing that would get her like this it was an idea of holding a huge bash.

"...They're not going to be showing any restraint in planning this thing, are they?" Ragna asked with a sigh as he followed the sisters from behind them along with the other two members of their team.

"You were the one that decided it was a good idea to let Yang know of the party; you know how she is," Weiss scolded him slightly.

"It was a slip of the tongue! And what was I supposed to do, try and plan this thing myself? Even if I could do that, you know it wouldn't take her long to find out," he reminded as he looked to the walls. "But damn if she's not excited for this thing…"

Already Yang had gone through the trouble of setting up flyers and posters all around the school advertising the bash that Ragna had been asked to hold. In the short time they'd had, Yang had not only managed to find a few establishments that offered food catering, she also managed to draw up a design for promotional posters. It was a cartoonish design of an armored Huntress and an _Ursa_ _Grimm_ both making a scary gesture, though Ragna honestly thought the Huntress was the scarier of the two with how wild Yang had designed her smile and how long she'd made the tongue.

"So sounds like you're starting to be the big man on campus," Ragna heard Kagura say as the Reaper felt an arm around his neck in a _buddy-buddy_ hold. "Never expect you of all people would be throwing a party. I mean with that bleak outlook you've always got… then again maybe that's why you're throwing a _Grimms Day Party._ "

"Yeah, and who the hell asked you?" Ragna muttered as he shoved the arm off of him.

"Well I'm really excited for the party!" Celica said as she too gave a cheery smile. "I can't wait to dress up as a _Grimm_ or should I go as a _Huntress_?"

"Celica… normally in these parties only the children dress up as _Hunters_ and _Huntresses_ , I mean if you think about what we usually wear anyways-"

"What, so Ruby and I can't dress up as _Huntresses_?" Yang interrupted, a challenging smirk on her face directed at Ragna. "Call us kids while you still can, I'll come up with something that'll knock your socks off."

"Nice, looking forward to it then," Kagura said to the blonde with a smirk on his face… though Ragna didn't like that his eyes kept glancing at Yang's chest. She must have picked up on this herself because a pained wheeze indicated Kagura had just gotten a sucker punch to the chest.

"He's had that coming for a while," Ragna decided, actually giving a small smirk after he'd said it. He then noticed that even though she was usually the most reserved one, Blake had yet to comment on the matters. "What about you? You excited for the party?"

"I-" Blake had been about to say before being bumped to the side as a familiar pain of Ragna's made his way past.

"If you're just going to stand in the middle of a hallway, then stay out of my way at least," Jin Kisaragi muttered as he continued walking past, only pausing for a moment to shoot a deadly glare at his brother. Ragna's only response was to glare back as he noticed Jin's hand getting closer and closer to his sword hilt. "Today… I'm getting what I want."

"Tch, but that's not up for you to decide is it?" Ragna half-reminded half-taunted his younger sibling. Jin didn't have a response for that and simply continued into the classroom and took his seat. "...Dealing with him's just about the _last_ thing I need right now."

"No kidding," Yang had to agree. "No offense since he's your brother and all, but I have no idea what Tsubaki sees in the guy."

"Urk… You'd be surprised," Kagura said, finally shaking off the injury he'd gotten courtesy of her fist. "For Tsubaki she's always been close to Jin, especially when we were all back at _Flare_ academy. Back then Jin was pretty calm and cool himself, president of his class and top marks all around and even had quite the fan club from the lady students… though mine was bigger at almost the entire academy."

"I don't buy it," Ragna and the entirety of Team _RWBY_ said in deadpanned unison, striking another harsh blow to Kagura (this time his ego).

"Oh, such fond memories," came Amane's flowery voice which caused everyone but Ragna, Kagura, and Blake to jump as they hadn't even realized he was there. "I would have loved to see what you darlings were like back in your former academy. Such sorrow that I wasn't there to witness such things."

"Keep in mind I wasn't part of the academy either…" Ragna said reservedly, off put by the dancer's needlessly outgoing nature. "Let's just get to class; the sooner we're done here, the better."

"You mean we get to go back to planning for the party, right?" Ruby asked innocently. As big as pain planning this thing was to the Reaper, the fact the Ruby seemed to be enjoying herself so much and was trying to tackle a good portion of the work was a nice ease to the burden.

"Yeah, we'll do that…" he said, giving her something of an awkward smirk as he headed inside the classroom. Team _JNPR_ was already in their seats waiting for the rest of teams to show up. Nora was fast asleep for some reason, possibly having something to do with her Janitorial punishment. The rest of Team _RAIN_ was also already in their seats, but that just gave Ragna a note of where _not_ to sit. ' _Then again I'll have to clear the air with them eventually… but let's hold off for just a bit longer._ '

"Everyone take your seats,"I have something a little different planned for today," Professor Goodwitch informed the class as the rest of the students arrived and did as instructed. "This morning I was approached by a student with a request for a new match up and I don't see much reason to deny said request. Today instead of hosting four separate matches, we'll be conducting one single match with eight members in it."

"A free-for-all, eh?" Azrael asked before smirking wickedly. "This sounds exactly like the thing I need!"

"Calm down, the participants for this match haven't been decided yet and will be picked at random," Goodwitch informed. "Since there will be more participants, the rules will be altered only slightly. This match will last until either we have an obvious winner or the end of class. Whenever a student is knocked out of the match, combat will be put on hold until we've brought them to their seats as to avoid any unnecessary injury. With any luck for the students, class will be over quickly for today. And now the participants..."

The large screen in the room then began cycling through possible participants through the eight open selections. Everyone watched with bated breath as they waited to see if they'd be chosen for the match. The cycling eventually stopped and landed on the following students; Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, three students in the class that that Ragna had never met before, his brother Jin Kisaragi… and himself.

"...Dammit," Ragna muttered as he rose from his seat and began heading down to the battle arena. Jin walked besides him and as passive he tried to appear, it was quite clear that he was trying not to show his maddening excitement. "So you planned this?"

"Getting you assigned as my opponent in a battle was always going to be a roll of the dice… I just decided it was time I increased the odds," he told him simply, his sword hand twitching as he was practically itching to draw his katana.

"Huh… one thing you forgot though," Ragna muttered. "I'm not the only person you'll be fighting here. Free-for-all, remember?" He'd expected to have that strike a cord with his younger sibling, but either Jin had blocked it out or he hadn't heard him. Stranger yet, Jin was heading to the opposite end of the training field while his best chance to fight his brother would be to stay beside him in the beginning spots.

Meanwhile on his of the field, Cardin looked to the other students. Not only was he here with two of his own teammates, but he was on good terms with the other three as well since they shared similar ideologies about the Fanus. Giving a small cough to clear his throat, he managed to get their attention. Using only his eyes, he managed to motion clearly towards Ragna the Bloodedge, the student here who he had his most obvious beef with. The others gave smirks as they readied their weapons, smirks that Cardin returned with a toothy one of his own.

' _That's not good,'_ Blake thought to herself as she studied their complexions carefully. ' _Ragna was brought into this match with nothing but enemies and his brother's Ice abilities could be a problem for him. If he gets hit by Jin's attacks, it could slow him down enough to where the other students could take easy shots at him… this is going to be a difficult fight, even with as strong as he is.'_

"Are we ready then?" Goodwitch asked from the sidelines. At no protesting, she tapped her teacher issued scroll and began the timer. As it counted down, time seemed to slow and Ragna noticed that his younger brother had yet to break eye contact while remaining razor focused on him alone… right up until the timer reached zero. "BEGIN!"

"GET HIM!" Ragna heard Cardin shout, breaking his concentration on his brother. Time still seemed slow to him as he noticed all of the students were going straight for him. Cardin and one of the other students leaping into the air while the others charged his way or lunged at him with their weapons. Gritting his teeth. Ragna's hand went for _Aramasa's_ hilt as he began to draw the large weapon against all six opponents.

 _ **SHING!**_

' _Wait… what?_ '

Ragna's eyes grew wide as he took in the haunting scene before him. All of the students that had been charging towards him were frozen in place, quite literally as they were all encased a massive wave of ice in the center of the training arena. Standing a good distance from behind the frozen formation was Jin, evidently having caused that effect from a single slash of _Yukianesa_.

"Mister Kisaragi!" Goodwitch exclaimed at Jin's brutal move.

"Not to worry; they're all alive… I made sure of it," Jin said as he slowly sheathed the ice crystal blade. The moment he had done so, the ice had shattered and all six students dropped to the floor. Their groans made it quite evident that Jin had been telling the truth about making the move 'non-lethal'. "Get off the field… I've been waiting too long for this already."

(Cue _**BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger**_ _Lust Sin_ Extended)

' _Dammit, he was actually prepared to wipe the floor with six students just like that… all so he could get to me,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he carefully analyzed his brother whose maniacal smile was finally starting to unmask itself. With the required help from some students, the battle ground was finally cleared for the two brothers to face off.

' _I… I know I should be rooting for Jin here, but won't it cause trouble if people see me rooting against my own partner?'_ Tsubaki thought to herself from the stands. ' _I… I know Jin's been waiting a long time for this and I need to support him, but_ -'

"YEAH! COME ON RAGNA!" she heard cheering beside her. She turned to Celica A. Mercury with a look of betrayal upon her face. "What?"

"J-Jin is your partner!" she exclaimed, even though she'd very much been thinking of doing the same herself.

"So, I can still root for Ragna can't I?" Celica asked innocently. Tsubaki was about to protest, but in the end she just decided she should just roll with it.

"YOU CAN BEAT HIM JIN!" she then shouted with her own chant, much louder and more intensely than Celica had done.

"...That's just another level of sad," Azrael muttered from nearby.

"Tell me about it…" Kagura sighed in agreeance.

"Finally I get the chance to do what I've always wanted," Jin said as his sadistic smile finally unmasked itself in full. "Ever since our reunion, I've always wanted to get to you… and now I have my moment."

"...Don't worry, I'll be sure you get _exactly_ what's coming to you," Ragna told his brother darkly, his gaze entirely focused upon his younger sibling as he still felt the cold chill of Jin's earlier attack.

Moving so fast that he was a blur, Jin surged forward at his elder sibling. Seeming to be completely unprepared for his brother's speed, Ragna threw out a wide punch that didn't even come close to hitting as Jin expertly dodged the blow. Shifting to the offensive, Ragna grunted in pain as he was smashed in the face by _Yukianesa's_ sheath. Forcing his body forward from the recoil, Ragna rushed forward with a lunging fist. Not only did Jin easily avoid said move, but by stabbing his sword into the ground he summoned a point ice collum. Given the icy floor left by his brother, it would have been impossible for him to stop leading Ragna to finally draw his sword as he smashed the massive ice spike to pieces.

"A pitiful guard…" came Jin's voice. Tensing as his brother stood directly behind him, Ragna swung his sword and just barely managed to deflect his brother's stab before swinging again and managing to block his second strike as the two entered a blade lock.

"I've never seen Ragna have this much trouble," Ruby noted nervously as she watched the fight, "Can Jin really be that good?"

"Hard to say," came a low growl from Azrael, someone who Ruby was pretty sure she _hadn't_ sat next to. "He's managing to stay alive, but it's clear his brother ain't screwing around… Maybe I've been going after the wrong target all this time."

Down in the fighting arena, both brothers seemed to be pushing against each other's blade, Jin with his own look of crazed malice and Ragna… Something in his brother's eyes sent Jin off guard and Ragna finally managed to break the lock and send younger brother stumbling back. Raising his sword above his head, Ragna roared as he brought the blade down with titanic force. Jin quickly stumbled back while searching his blade as Ragna's sword struck the floor cracking it severly and creating a small crater. Ragna then brought his blade upward for a second reckless strike. Jin seemed to twirl his body as the move missed him by a hair's breadth. Using his created ice from earlier, Jin managed to slide back a good distance before creating a sword composed entirely of ice and launching it at his brother, leaving Ragna to once again recklessly break it with his weapon.

"What's wrong, this can't be the best you've got." Jin said as his expression was starting to go from a smirk to a scowl. "I was expecting better from you…" His only answer was infuriating silence. "Rrrgh… FIGHT ME SERIOUSLY!"

"Tch, try and make me... you crybaby," Ragna muttered, only adding to Jin's anger.

Stabbing his sword into the ground once more, Jin managed to create several icicle pillars, caging his brother in from different sides. While his older brother was busy smashing through those, Jin created a much larger ice sword which moved much slower. With so many attacks focus on his brother, it should have been impossible to for Ragna to defend himself but somehow he was managing to break the ice apart with both his sword and his fists. Just as he'd broken down the final piece, Jin quickly summoned a much rougher icicle in front of him. Everyone watched in awe he flew forward while riding it and the point stabbed itself into Ragna's gut.

"Mr. Kisaragi! That's enough!" Goodwitch called out her student.

"Don't get involved with this!" Ragna shouted as he deflected Jin's overhead strike, apparently having enough energy to keep fighting despite his wound. Making another reckless slash downwards, Jin managed to dodge the blow easily and countered by striking Ragna's heart with his sword's hilt and caused him to gag.

' _Wait a minute…'_ Yang thought to herself as something about the fight seemed off. ' _Ragna might be moving fast… but he's not going anywhere near the speed I was seeing him when he was fighting Rojo.'_ Realization hit her as Ragna made another series of reckless slashes, none of them coming close to hitting his brother. ' _Is… is he holding back?'_

Down below, it seemed like Jin was coming to one such realization himself and grit his teeth at the fact. Ragna roared as he rushed forward towards Jin, only to see the younger sibling sheath his katana blade and standing before Ragna defenseless. The Grim Reaper's movement slowed as he obviously veered his blade away from his younger sibling…

Right before Jin drew his katana from it's sheath into a slash powerful enough to sending Ragna off of his feet and into the air and sending Aramasa flying useless from his grasp. The younger sibling then transitioned his hold on his weapon to where to it almost looked like an archers bow as icy arrows formed and pointed directly at the airborne Reaper.

' _...I'll be damned…'_ Ragna thought to himself, giving something of a sad smirk. ' _He actually went and got stronger…'_

The full salvo of arrows hit him without mercy and the Reaper didn't even try to guard against the onslaught as the projectiles stabbed into him and began freezing his flesh over. Once the barrage ended and he'd fallen to the ground, Jin made another powerful draw with his sword as he seemingly passed through his brother, only after having stopped in his dash did several freezing slashes appear over Ragna's body. Jin rushed back one last time, now for his katana to take Ragna's head off in one final slash…

…but stopping before the final decapitating strike.

( _End Theme_ )

"What's wrong, can't finish?" Ragna's voice was quite, so low that only his brother standing right in front of his face could hear him. His eye contact with his little brother was undaunted and he showed no fear even with an ice blade pressed dangerously close to his throat. Around the classroom, students watched with fear as Jin held his brother completely at his mercy and ready to slit his throat. Even Cardin and his battered team felt the tension; sure they hated Ragna's guts but that didn't mean they were ready to just watch a fellow student die in front of their eyes. When Jin's blade didn't immediately pierce him, Ragna continued. "Good 'cause I'm not ready to die just yet…" Jin said nothing, but slowly began to grit his teeth. "You know that I still have to do this; you can kill me when-"

 _ **Crack**_

Jin slowly sheathed the blade, causing the ice encasing his brother to shatter. Since he didn't have much of a hold on his balance, Ragna fell to the ground on his rump. Giving his older sibling one final glare of angry, the Kisaragi heir turned and made his way to the classroom doorway.

"I forfeit." Those were his final words before he left his classroom without bothering to be excused by Goodwitch.

' _Dammit… that sure as hell didn't work,'_ Ragna thought as he looked up to the stands. Teams _RWBY_ and _JNPR_ , Celica, and Noel looked worried for Ragna more than anything else, Kagura and Azrael actually looked disappointed at the display, while Tsubaki as usual glared at him. To that final one, Ragna returned said glare for just a moment before motioning to the the door with his thumb. Had that small act improved his situation with her he didn't know, but Tsubaki did rise from her seat to follow after Jin.

"So is class over?" he asked humorlessly. Goodwitch's stern expression made it clear that she wasn't in any mood for games. "Great... Now what?"

"My first point is that whatever your standing is between you and your brother, I'd ask that you'd both keep it out of classroom affairs," she told him. "Had I known that this would happen I would never have approved his request. As for you though..."

"What the hell did I do wrong?" he demanded as he weakly rose to his feet and headed over to Aramasa and set the large blade back on his belt. "I won the match, didn't I?"

"I didn't see a winner out there; I just saw two brothers that _both_ decided to surrender and six students that happened to be caught in the crossfire," Goodwitch told him, a statement that Ragna couldn't argue with. "...You'll have one final match today. And make this one count; it's likely your last chance to change my professional opinion of you."

"What!? But you can't make him do that now!" Jaune shouted from the seats, showing great concern for his friend and short term mentor. "He's been beaten badly and parts of him are still frozen in ice! At least give him time to recover first!"

"...I'll be fine; Jin went easy on me," Ragna muttered stubbornly, not willing to back away. "So who am I supposed to be fighting?"

"I'm letting you decide," Goodwitch instructed, causing Ragna to raise an eyebrow. Sure challenging other students was a key feature of these mock fights, but that would be for _after_ the first semester, once the students had determined their standings. "You may select anyone here… just make sure you're able to show me what you're truly capable of against them."

"...So I've really got one final shot," he said, remaining silent for a long moment.

' _What now, Grim Reaper?'_ Azrael thought to himself with an eager and toothy smile, one that Ragna seemed to notice and returned with a glare. ' _Seems it's finally time for you to give me that banquet I've been waiting an eternity for. She said someone that you could prove your ability against, and who better than me, Reaper?'_

"...Fine then," Ragna said as he gave a smirk to a worried Team _RWBY_ in the stands, though failing to put them at ease. "I think I know who I'm fighting."

"I'll have to ask that you keep the destruction to a _reasonable_ level," Goodwitch instructed as she began using her scroll to set up for a second fight. "Both fighters will take their places at-"

The sound of a blade cutting through the air interrupted the teacher. Slowly shifting her gaze, Goodwitch turned and saw Ragna's eyes narrowed in determination … while pointing his blade squarely at her in challenge.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, not sounding pleased… but surprisingly not scowling.

"You didn't say _any_ _student_ ; you said _anyone_ ," Ragna reminded, not in a playful way but in a purely serious one. "If I'm supposed to be changing your opinion of me, then wouldn't it be best to give you a personal taste of how I can really fight?"

"...So, you simply decided to interpret my message a certain way, 'reading between the lines' if you will," the teacher noted as neither individual broke their gaze at the other.

"I dunno, maybe. Or maybe I was just ticked off that I'm always in trouble whenever you do as much as look at me; you pick one," Ragna told her venomously. "So are we doing this or am I going to be mopping floors this weekend too?"

"...Be careful what you wish for," Goodwitch informed the Reaper as she pocketed her scroll.

"Wait… WAS THIS AN OPTION THE WHOLE TIME!?" Azrael demanded from the high seats, his roar causing many students to try a scoot away to gain distance from an angry _Mad Dog_.

"Normally no, but I feel that this will be more beneficial than any other lesson I could give him," Goodwitch said as she took her wand out and laid it against her open palm. "I don't think that we'll be needing a time limit this battle, do you?"

"Don't ask a question you already, know the answer to," Ragna said in return as he kept his blade pointed, his eyes focused and ready for the fight.

( _Cue_ _ **Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance**_ _I'm My Own Master Now_ Extended)

' _Should I warn Ragna about Goodwitch's powers?'_ Ruby thought worriedly to herself as she looked over the battle arena. Remembering the time she'd seen her teacher in action, she knew that she could take the debris from the last fight and the few remaining ice shards left behind to her favor and to a dangerous potency. ' _Knowing how stubborn he is though, he probably wouldn't want to know… At least I can cheer him on.'_ "C-COME ON RAGNA! I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS!"

"DON'T YOU DARE LOSE THIS! NOT AFTER THAT BAD OF A WARM UP!" Yang shouted in encouragement as well.

"Heh, guess I can't screw up then," Ragna said with a snarky smirk before he finally rushed forward.

As Ruby expected, Goodwitch's telekinetic semblance took control of a few of Jin's ice shards and turned them into sharp projectiles heading straight for the Reaper. Making a quick series of swipes with _Aramasa_ he managed to beat said objects out of his way and plunged his sword forward… only to have Goodwitch blast him off to the side with a mere flick of her wand. Ragna grunted as he dug his feet into the ground and slowed himself. Plunging his sword into the ground, he swept it upwards sent large chunks of debris straight at his teacher.

' _A poor move given my semblance,_ ' Goodwitch thought as she focused on the objects and easily caught them only to see Ragna had disappeared from sight. Catching on just in time, she sent the object directly behind her as Ragna charged from her blindspot. The effort only managed to slow him a short fraction of a second as he cleaved through the objects, but it allowed her to leap into the air and dodge the slash meant for her. Not hesitating, Ragna leaped into the air after her. Seeing the Reaper heading straight for her, Goodwitch once more used her semblance on Ragna to send him flying into the ceiling.

"NOT THIS TIME!" Ragna declared as he flipped his body around, this time letting his feet take the impact as he landed on the ceiling. Not giving Goodwitch a chance to recover, he leaped once more and barreled at her. Goodwitch used her semblance to create a small surface to push off of and avoid Ragna's counter strike as both teacher and student were now back on the ground.

"...Let's see how you adapt to this move," Goodwitch said, swiping her arm out and spearing red fire element dust. Using her telekinesis, she managed to cause the material to explode and then condense, forming a fiery red blade which floated before her. As Ragna rushed forward again, this time he couldn't cleave through this weapon and the two entered a blade lock.

' _Damn it, now she's getting serious,_ ' Ragna thought as he noticed Goodwitch wave her wand. Noticing the debris shards from around the room aimed squarely at him, effectively trapping him. ' _Shit._ '

Letting his struggle against the fire blade falter, he slide backward and got out of harm's way of that attack before turning his body and slashing seemingly wildly, but managing to cut through all of _Goodwitch's_ projectiles before he was forced to turn back and parry the powerful slash from the controlled weapon, only to have his teacher reset the projectiles and being the attack anew. This time he barely had time to block all of them and his deflection against the sword was rushed and sent him off balance. A second follow up slash sent the blade from his grasp and left him defenseless. Goodwitch trusted her wand forward and made her sword due the same aiming to stop just short of Ragna's throat and force him to yield to her.

 _ **CLANG!**_

' _WHAT?_ '

The blade was help back as Ragna held his arm up like he was making a guard… only to have a glowing circular barrier placed in front of him to hold the weapon back.

"What is that?" Ruby asked with her eyes wide in awe. "Is… is that his semblance?"

"...Like hell it is…" Azrael said, even his voice so low it was almost a whisper. "...He's a _DRIVE_ user."

"A Drive?" Weiss asked, not even she having heard of such thing.

"It's something that's only been hypothesised and alluded to in a few rare myths," Azrael explained as he got a good look at Ragna with he dropped his guard and quickly rolled to grab his sword. "Drive users are as rare and powerful as they come; having a number of abilities that aren't linked to any semblances… like that barrier of his."

"He's been hiding something that tough from us this whole time?" Kagura asked with a scowl as Ragna only seemed to be getting faster as he grew used to deflecting and destroying Goodwitch's projectiles.

"There's still more…" Azrael muttered as he tried to get a good look at his team leader. "...Some text allude to another part… some Drive users were thought to have strong abilities… and _Multiple_ Semblances _._ "

' _So… he really is that strong_ ,' Blake thought. Goodwitch tried to seize her moment as she gather projectiles all around Ragna and keep him contained in a cage. She thought he'd have no time to deflect them all at such a close range, but Ragna roared as he unleashed a burst of golden energy from his entire body, destroying the cage around him. ' _So this is what he's like when he's serious…_ '

Roaring Ragna made one final rush forward at _Goodwitch,_ someone who in spite of everything that had been reveal was somehow able to retain her composure. She tried using her telekinesis to send Ragna into the wall, but the Reaper wove to the side before she could focus on him. She conjured more shards, but Ragna managed to destroy those with ease. Switching all of her focus into her main offensive tool, the classroom echoed as Ragna and Goodwitch's weapons struck each other with destructive force. On one impact Goodwitch forced the blade to spin viciously like a drill and thrust it forward, forcing Ragna to guard with the side his blade. Despite his own strength the move seemed strong enough to force him back… only then did Goodwitch notice Ragna smiling.

Everyone in the room felt a dark chill as a strong power seemed to pulse into Ragna's weapon, suddenly extending and forming a giant scythe that only Ruby had seen before with a blade of dark energy pouring out of it. Roaring, Ragna swung his blade downward in a devastating slash, cleaving the fiery blade and causing it to explode. The scythe then reverted to its sword for as he blitzed forward while Goodwitch raised her wand to control one last set of projectiles...

 _...and the match was over._

 _(End Theme)_

Neither Ragna nor Goodwitch said a thing as they stood before one another, so close that their noses were nearly touching and neither yielding in their focused eye contact. Ragna's _Aramasa_ was positioned at his teacher's throat much the same way Jin's sword had been at his own shortly before. Goodwitch still had control over a few of her shards and all were close and able to pierce Ragna's skin with as little as a flick of her wrist. For a long pause neither of them moved an inch, but then Goodwitch did something Ragna hadn't expected...

She smiled.

"Well done," she commended as she brought her wand down letting the sharp and threatening shards fall to the ground. Ragna looked surprised by the development, but tried to keep his own composure as he moved his blade back and rested it against his shoulder.

"So about that opinion of yours..." the Reaper slowly began.

"Don't disappoint us in planning the _Grimm's Day Party_ and I might find reason to view you in a more favorable light," Goodwitch promised as she turned to the rest of the students that had been watching the fight… many of them more than a little shaken. "Class dismissed, I'll see you all on Monday and we'll resume as normal." While most of the students took that as a sign to leave and begin their weekends, one in particular was staying behind with his thoughts.

' _He really is a Drive user then… someone who's only been briefly brought up in concept,'_ Azrael thought to himself before smirking. ' _He hasn't even shown one of his semblances yet and I already can't wait to sink my teeth into him… this is going to be amazing.'_ Chuckling to himself, the _Mad Dog_ rose to his feet, already trying to come up with a plan to get his own fight out of Team _RAIN_ 's leader. Goodwitch only shook her head as she knew what he was planning before focusing her efforts on newly needed repairs.

 _ **Later**_

' _Knowing the questions everyone has for me, I might as well mind my distance from the Party Planning Committee for tonight,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he laid in his bed staring up at the blank ceiling above him.

Most of the academy had already headed to the cafeteria for dinner, but right now Ragna just wanted some well deserved and rather needed time to himself. There were obviously a couple of groups that were talking about that day's fight with Goodwitch, an event that had become something of an argument in the short time since it had happened. There were many of the students that had insisted that the teacher had been holding back against while others spoke to Ragna's favor since he hadn't activated or even revealed a _Semblance_ yet. Honestly even with all of the attention he could start receiving, Ragna couldn't find it in him to give a damn one way or another… not with so much continuing to weigh him down.

' _...All this brooding ain't healthy,'_ he admitted with a sigh as he reluctantly made his way to his feet. He decided it was time that he headed out and got some air instead of imprisoning himself inside his own room. Maybe if he really wanted to he could head into town for… something. Ragna really didn't know what to do for fun. Forcing himself to think that this would be good for him to some degree, he made his way out of his room.

He didn't make it very far out of the dormitories before he realized that maybe this wasn't the best of ideas. Jin was walking through the dormitories to pass him, apparently having left dinner early himself. It became clear that Jin hadn't planned on seeing his older sibling as the two uncomfortably started at one another.

"I get that you can't forgive me, but still… I ain't stopping," Ragna informed his brother enigmatically. If anything Jin only seemed to grow angry. "Tch, you're not a little kid anymore. You don't need me to keep holding your hand."

"You think that I want to kill you… just because you left me behind?" the younger sibling asked, a tone of betrayal in his voice. "I _understood_ why you did what you had to do from the very beginning, I hated it more than anything but I knew that you had made that choice. I don't _want_ you dead… quite the opposite actually."

"...Now you're not making any sense," the Reaper told his sibling as he crossed his arms. "If you knew, why the hell do you have such a problem with me? Why the hell are you-?"

"BECAUSE I NEED TO STOP YOU!" Jin shouted, his outburst would attracted plenty of attention had the hallways not been empty. "Seven years! You've spent seven years trying to get revenge when you don't even have any idea where to look for him! You're wasting your life away when it's just going to get you killed!"

"Maybe it will, but there's not a lot out there that can kill me," Ragna countered dryly. "And I'm not wasting my life; you don't know what I've learned about that bastard. Even if you still don't, it's clear he's got to be stopped Jin; you saw what he did."

"And I can't even help you?" the Kisaragi heir demanded. "That was my home and my mother too, Ragna! I'm a part of this as much as you are!"

"Right, but you've still got your own chance at a better life and I need you to hold on to that. I'm the older brother, so I'll be the one to bear the burden…" Ragna sighed as he looked at his gloved right hand. "Don't fall into revenge like I did, Jin; it's a darkness you'll never be able to get out of and I've already gone in too far to stop now."

"That's it… that's all you're going to say?" Jin asked, gritting his teeth. "You wouldn't be doing this if I'd been taken instead of-!"

" _ **DON'T."**_

For all Jin had done to his brother; from annoying him constantly in their studies, to his scheming to get the two to cross swords, to his crazed expressions and tone of voice making Ragna's academy life an awkward hell… the Reaper hadn't never been anywhere close to enraged as he was right now. Even though his scowl didn't look much different than normal, an eerie glow in his eyes conveyed a rage greater than anything the blond had ever seen. This was the line Jin should have known better than to even think of crossing.

"You sure as hell know that's a lie, Jin. Don't even pretend you think that it isn't," the Reaper told his brother darkly. Now the situation had only gone from bad to worse as Jin couldn't even look his brother in the eye. Hoping to be down for today, Jin passed by his brother without a word and his head slumped forward in defeat.

"Hey."

Unable to help himself, Jin stopped not very far from Ragna though neither of the two turned as they stood with their backs facing one another.

"...You planning on coming to the party?"

"...I haven't decided yet," Jin told him honestly, his voice low and with little emotion. "...Maybe."

"You damn well better be there; I'm putting a hell of a lot of work into this thing," the Reaper told his brother. It was a crass form of an invitation, but for Ragna it was much more heartfelt than he was able to let on.

"...If my schedule stays clear, maybe I can make an effort," Jin said hollowly. Had there not been such tension between the two, he likely wouldn't have been nearly as reserved.

"I'll put you down for a 'Maybe' then," Ragna said with a good deal of smarminess in his tone, neither brother able to see the other's small and sad smirk. "You don't have a lot of time to get a costume ready… But do us both a favor and see if Tsubaki wants to go, will ya?" The Reaper didn't have to turn to know Jin was shooting him a look of heavy skepticism. "And people call me dense. C'mon, you gotta know she'd be over the moon if you asked her to go, even if I'm the one throwing the party…"

"...I'll see if she isn't busy," Jin promised. "But poor choice of words; I thought you'd remember that I _hate_ the moon."

"Yeah, yeah, don't go being such a smartass," Ragna said with a sigh.

"Tch, it would be near impossible to be a bigger one than you," the younger brother said, getting in the final quip between the two before finally heading back to his room.

' _That's a step forward… I think,'_ Ragna said, letting out a deep breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding in. Much like he'd been told by his teacher, the Reaper was _all piss and vinegar_ ; he was good at fighting, swearing, and keeping people away but forming and repairing connections was something he didn't have a lot of experience with… it didn't help that he hadn't been here alone. "You can come out now, I don't like the idea of you stalking us."

"I'd hardly call it stalking, but sorry for unintentionally eavesdropping," came the voice of Lie Ren as he made his presence known. "...I take it you don't want anyone else to know about what happened?"

"You catch on quick and lucky for me you're already the quiet type," he muttered, though he still had the usual nagging in the back of his mind. "...This isn't where you try to blackmail me, is it?"

"No, instead I think I have something that might help you," Ren offered as he gestured for Ragna to follow him. Figuring that his plans for a late night stroll had already been ruined, Ragna unenthusiastically followed behind. Leading the Reaper to Team _JNPR's_ room, he picked his small bonsai tree up from his desk and offered it to the Reaper.

"You're… giving this to me?" he asked, only to receive a mild shrug from Ren. "Aren't these things hella expensive, like more expensive than most of our gear put together?"

"If you want, you can always bring it back to me once your done with it," he offered gathering sheers, a small watering can, and a small pamphlet on how to take care of the tree. "Taking care of this tree can bring you a sense of calm and neutering something so delicate often times relieves stress… I have the feeling that you could use both."

'...What are you, my psychiatrist?" Ragna asked, unnerved someone he barely knew would go so far out of his way to help him.

"Not really, though I did overhear Weiss complaining how barren your room was at dinner; maybe this plant will help to change her mind," Ren told him, giving the Reaper something of a knowing smirk.

"Oh, so you're my psychiatrist _and_ a spy, great combination there," Ragna muttered, mostly to himself. Before he could make another quip however, Ren dropped a box containing the tree and the supplies he'd gathered in his arms not giving him a chance to turn it down. "...Seriously though, why the help?"

"It's thanks for helping Jaune win his first fight and for talking some sense into him… you've helped _JNPR_ out more than you could possibly know," Ren told him. "He's still has a ways to go, but at least now he's been improving much more instead of trying to bear the whole burden on his own."

"...Good to hear it then," he said passively, hiding that fact he felt a twinge happier hearing that Jaune was doing better. "Then it's not because Nora's probably come close to destroying this thing?"

"...It's a little hard to say no to that, but I know she means well," Ren said and Ragna couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Don't… tell her I said that though."

"...Like you, I know when to keep quiet," the Reaper promised as he opened _JNPR's_ door to head back to his own room, but paused. "You lost your home too… didn't you?"

"...That easy to tell?" Ren rhetorically asked, looking over at the old curved dagger he kept on his desk; the only keepsake he had of his old village and family… a life that had been taken from him by the _Grimm_. He then turned back to Ragna, a small understanding starting to form between the two. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah… you too," Ragna said, still unable not to feel a touch reserved about what Ren had seen.

Finally leaving team _JNPR_ 's room and heading back to his own, he put his new Bonsai tree on his desk and looked around his still mostly empty room, save for his new plant and the small rug he'd recently purchased with Weiss.

"Home sweet home," he muttered sarcastically as he headed out of his room once more to leave the academy, this time knowing that what he needed was a big bowl of Udon and Curry.

"Hey."

...He didn't get two feet.

"Missed you at dinner," Yang said reservedly, the rest of her team surrounding her. "In fact a lot of people were asking about you."

"Listen… I…" Ragna sighed, coming up with excuses was not his forte.

"That... Was... AWESOME!" came Ruby's exclamation as Ragna looked at the shorter lady who had sparkles in her eyes as she was getting in close. "How can you do that! ?Are you really a _Drive user_ like Azrael said!? C'mon tell us!"

"I…" Ragna tried to say.

"Ruby, give him some room," Blake told her leading before looking at Ragna… and oddly winking. "You're overwhelming him after everything that's happened."

"Oh… right," Ruby said, still a little disappointed that she couldn't keep asking.

"It's not like it's that big of a secret, I just had these abilities since as long as I can remember." _A lie, and a hollow one_.

"I think I'm a little more annoyed that you had these powers and you never thought to tell us," Weiss scolded.

"...Something had to make up for my dancing," Ragna chuckled at a self-aimed joke.

"...That I can believe," the Schnee air told him with an uppity look.

"Dancing?" Ruby questioned.

"She's been giving me lessons," he answered.

' _So that's what they've been doing,'_ Blake thought to herself. ' _And here I thought_ …' Shaking the visual of Ragna and Weiss reenacting the latest chapter from her novel from her head, she then looked seriously at Ragna. "So now what?"

"Haven't eaten yet; was about to head into town and grab some Udon," he explained as he stomach gave a confirming grumble.

"Funny, now that you mention it we didn't get eat either," Yang told him with a smile on her face. "And I _just_ happen to know a good restaurant in town."

"...Didn't you four _just_ come from dinner?" Ragna asked with a bit of skepticism.

"Yeah… but we were really trying to find you," Ruby said sadly. "I was… kinda worried."

' _...Great, now I feel like an ass again,_ ' the Reaper thought guilty. "Alright then, let's see what Yang's got in store for us."

"Also you're treating us," Yang said, a message that left Ragna with a look of terror. "Call it payback for getting us worried and keeping this whole thing a secret. Treat us this once and we're even, no more questions." ...That was a hard offer to turn down.

"...Weiss."

"Yes Ragna?" the Schnee heir asked with that same sweet yet sadistic smile from when she'd watched her friend be dragged off.

The Reaper looked to all four of the members of Team _RWBY_ , a small collection of people that made up about half of the friends he had. The Reaper then gave a small smirk as he started leading them into town.

"Stop teaching Yang about blackmail."

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **Well… this chapter was long overdue. I didn't have a ton of Goodwitch fight data to go off of, but what did you think overall?**_

 _ **Anyways, with any luck I'll have the Halloween chapter out on Wednesday like I've been planning. I don't expect too many people to read it that day, but I still feel like this chapter needs that proper timing.**_

 _ **As far as the poll results go I closed them just a bit before posting this and results were SUPER close.**_

 _ **20- Omake**_

 _ **21- Spin Off series**_

 _ **It may take me a while to enact upon those like I promised, but expect some form of update soon. Anyways, let's do the review responses (only a few people posted, but I got a lot more Followers and Favorites to this story, so shout out there).**_

 _Wlyman2009_ : Thing about Weiss; not a cheap date.

 _The Unplanner_ : That's debatable, but maybe. As for match ups… well, there's a little to be seen here.

 _Lovnag_ : So the _Waifu-Weiss_ army has a new recruit.

 _WideBrimmedHat_ : That… sounds painful. Don't go hurting yourself just to get me to post my stories.

 _Jazz Ears_ : Hmm… well to each their own on shipping, but yeah; Weiss is clearly easier to deal with.

 _Paladin9800_ : Managed to coax you into giving me a review, and I guess Nora needs a little more love then.

 _Guest_ : If I want to _introduce_ a character, I'd probably save that for the main series not the spin off… but maybe I could include those guys in a gag reel at least.

 _ **SEE YOU OCTOBER 31ST GUYS! HALLOWEEN UPDATE! WOO! WOO!**_

 _ **CIAO!**_


	12. The Grimmest Night

_**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**_

 _ **So yeah, I'm doing the author's note first, just because I have a bit of an announcement. While I wouldn't say I'm putting this story on 'hiatus' I am going to hold off on updating this for a while, probably until December or early 2019. There are two main reasons for this, first is that I've been doing rapid updates for this series in particular and I have plenty of other stories that desperately need some TLC (large understatement, I know). Reason two is that this will give me a chance to cover my ass while RWBY Season 6 is still coming out, making sure that I won't screw anything major up against its expanding canon (might need to go back and adjust this story and 'BlazBlue: Cross Tag Isekai' where appropriate).**_

 _ **Well, since I've got you all here, let's address the reviews I got last chapter now.**_

 _Shadowedge27_ : The mechanics might work a little different, but all will be explained.

 _Wlyman2009_ : Compared to the games, I'm going EASY on his wallet.

 _Lovnag_ : Considering the last time things went well for Ragna the world was literally reset… maybe!?

 _The Unplanner:_ A nice and long theory, thanks as always.

 _Guest_ : NOOOOOOOOOOO… maybe.

 _Wide Brimmed Hat:_ *Sees the Hiatus note* Put the dog down… and walk away…

 _Guest (2)_ : I mean... It's still up in the air.

 _Star's Keyblade4114_ : It was a lot to write in, but I'm glad you liked it.

 _ **With that done, I present my first Halloween special on FanFiction. I hope that everyone enjoys and I'll be seeing you around.**_

 _ **Crimson XII: The Grimmest Night**_

"I think you need to move the banner up a little," Yang instructed to Ragna, right as he was making his way off of the ladder after pounding in the final tack with his hammer.

The Reaper gave a reluctant sigh as he made his way back up the steps while he and the rest of Team RWBY prepared for that night's party. Despite being a somewhat… _controversial_ celebration, just about the entire school was excited for the party and many had been bragging about their costume ideas during class. Doing so however had garnered the attention of Professor Port who insisted on offering criticism of any costume designs he overheard to give them more realistic proportions, claiming that it was his job as the academy's _Grimm Studies_ instructor.

"Now you have the banner lopsided towards the left, make sure it's completely level this time," Weiss Schnee instructed Ragna as he was about to climb down for the second time.

"Yeah, yeah…" the Reaper groaned as he climbed up once more and began taking the nail out. "It's not like the damn thing has to be perfect anyways…"

"But Ozpin told you that you have to throw a really good party if you want to keep that room, right?" Ruby reminded as she set up the many tables that would hold the refreshments for the party goers. "So if you want to keep it we need to make sure tonight goes as well as it can and that means we can't overlook anything, because considering your luck-"

"Something's bound to go wrong anyways; I believe he knows that well enough," Jin's voice interrupted as the swordsman made his way into the mess hall. Immediately Team RWBY shifted from the energetic to the defensive as they all thought back to last Friday's match. If Jin noticed their change in composure (which for a swordsman of his standing was likely), he didn't comment on it. "I was wondering if you needed any last minute help with the decorations, after all you only have a few hours before the party."

"Actually yeah, you can set up this damn banner for me; these girls are taking this thing way too seriously," Ragna said as he tossed his younger brother the hammer he was using while Jin snatched the tool out of mid-air. Leaping off the ladder, Ragna gave Jin room so that he could go to work. This was starting to surprise Team _RWBY_ as the two seemed to acting much more… natural around each other. "So… about Tsubaki…"

"I asked her," Jin informed passively.

"And?" Ragna pressed his brother.

"I… I _think_ she said yes," the younger sibling responded, an answer Ragna hadn't been expecting.

"You… think?" he repeated.

"With how flustered she was it was difficult to tell," the blond admitted, leading Ragna to give a small chuckle. "Something you find funny?"

"Yeah, that people say I'm clueless about women when they have you for comparison," he mocked.

"First off, yeah you are clueless Ragna," came Yang's voice from behind the Reaper, causing him to scowl at the insult he'd gotten. "Second, did some happen between the two of you? Jin's been here a full minute without acting like a total creeper."

"...That's between my brother and I," Jin told her. While he remained secretive and standoffish, Team _RWBY_ couldn't help but notice the slight edge of malice his voice was starting to lack. "Have preparations been very hard?"

"You've got no idea; I wanted to try and keep things simple but you give Yang an inch suddenly she's got a mile," the Reaper explained with a sigh, earning a light punch to his arm from the other blonde. "Hell, it's a miracle that we're still under budget at all."

"We are?" Ruby asked from afar. "I thought that Yang said- MPHMPHPM!"

...In instances like this Yang might've shown some potential as a speed semblance user as she was suddenly across the room covering Ruby's mouth, trying to keep her younger sister from babbling. Ragna had a sinking feeling in his gut and looked to Weiss in concern as she was the budget keeper for this party.

"I might've made a small donation towards the party," she informed, leaving Ragna to give a sigh of relief as he realized that this had already been handled.

"S-See!? We're still safe," Yang said, trying to keep her front up with a bright smile, making Ragna all the more suspicious.

"Did Weiss give us the extra money while we were still in the clear or only after you spent too much?" the Reaper questioned, leaving Yang to pale enough to where her skin tone was akin to the Schnee heir's. Ragna turned to the silver haired girl. "Tell me she didn't go overboard…"

"No more than usual, but I didn't mind," she told him truthfully. "I can do _this_ much for my friends at least."

"...Thanks then," he told her, as he decided to leave it there for now. Shifting his attention, he looked to Blake who was byfar the quietest person here… In fact he doubted he'd heard two words from her before she'd gotten here and started working on the photo backgrounds; haunting decoration where students could get their pictures taken with several props and a backdrop to set the mood. With his brother now setting up the banner in his place, he then headed over to help his Fanus friend. "Keeping busy?"

"Trying to," Blake said though Ragna couldn't help that she was acting even more reserved than usual.

"Something's up," he noted in a much lower voice, squatting so he could help adjust some of the set pieces.

"Don't be mad at me, but I don't think I'll be going tonight," she whispered back as she continued to work.

"After all the work you put in for my party that you aren't even going to? You got my respect," Ragna told her with a small smirk which was returned by Blake's small smile. "Still, sucks that you won't be there tonight. Is this a _you-know-what_ thing?"

"...Actually this is more of a _me_ thing," Blake admitted, her expression turning dark. "I don't like to talk about it."

"Fair enough," Ragna told her. With all of the secrets the two knew they were keeping it was standard for either of them to let an issue drop easily… most of the time. "Pretty sure we ordered a couple of dishes with fish in 'em…"

"Are you trying to tempt me to go the party?" Blake asked as she was sure whether to be annoyed or worried that Ragna might be playing her weakness.

"Nah, but I could set some off to the side so I can send some back with Yang if you want," he offered.

"...I'd like that," Blake told him earnestly.

"Thought you might," the Reaper said before he rose to his feet to let Blake resume her work. "Just a couple of hours to go…"

"Yeah, you should probably go and get changed," Ruby said to her friend. "Gotta look the part if you're going to be hosting this thing, right?"

"Don't I already though?" he asked giving a nonchalant shrug as he looked over the other tables.

"Ha, nice one," Yang said with a smirk. "Seriously though, go get into your costume."

"...Uh…" Ragna tried to come up with something to say, some sort of response as he simply scratched the back of his silver hair.

"Wait a minute," Weiss said as she stopped what she was doing and approached Ragna, carrying a scowl with her along with the other girls. "You don't have a costume? And you're expecting to lead this schoolwide party without one?"

"I mean… in my defense I usually just wear black and red anyways," Ragna told them with a strained smile. Now even Ruby had her hands on her hips as she leaned forward and tried to look authoritative. "I'll… I'll just leave my jacket behind, that should be enough of a change."

"Weiss," Yang began with authority as it was clear she was acting like she hadn't heard Ragna. "How much room do we have left in the budget?"

"Certainly enough for one costume," Weiss said, not breaking her glare from Ragna.

"Enough for one _Master of Ceremonies_ costume?" Ruby asked, as aggressive as her sister and partner.

" _If_ we shop wisely," the Schnee heir confirmed as all three girls were surrounding their friend like a pack of wolves.

"All right, all right, you win," the Reaper sighed as he realized there was no way out of this. "Let's just finish up here and we'll-"

"Oh no you don't," Yang said to him, pointing a finger directly in his face. "YOU'LL finish up here while WE go and grab your outfit."

"...Now you're not making sense, why wouldn't I go with you when I'm the guy wearing the damn thing?" Ragna demanded.

"Because you lost all right to choose your own outfit when you didn't think to make one yourself," the blonde told him as the three began to head off in a huff, not giving Ragna any time to protest. "Come on Blake."

"I… I'll keep working here thanks," she told them before turning to the deflated Reaper. "Ragna's going to need all the help he can get."

"That's what keeps getting us all into trouble, isn't it?" Weiss sighed as the girls left him the building, already discussing plans for his costume.

"...You were saying something about my clueless nature around women?" Jin questioned as he climbed down from the ladder, having finally set up the banner with the exact precision they had insisted it needed.

"Shut up…" his older sibling groaned. From a short distance away, Blake could only give a small smirk as she watched on as the innocent party.

 _Meanwhile -Team JNPR's Room-_

"I didn't think that you'd go through the trouble of dressing up for this Ren," Jaune said to his teammate as he opened the _Holy Knight_ costume kit he'd brought from the store and looked inside. Everything was there from the white plastic full plate armor to the white underclothes and cape. "You're usually so quiet, I was thinking you'd just try and stay in tonight."

"I felt like I could put together a decent costume," Ren said as he continued looking over the instructions to put together a cheap plastic bow that he'd recently purchased. The truth was he hadn't planned on too large of a clothes change for his outfit, but he knew that if he combined the right type of bow and arrow set along with his old knife he could use that to pay a small homage to the father he'd lost along with his home.

"By the way have you seen Nora? I thought she'd be more excited than anyone to have the excuse to dress up," Jaune noted.

"If I had to guess, she's probably changing in the girl's bathroom as we speak… into what though I have no idea…"

"...Didn't you go with her when she went to pick out her outfit?" Jaune asked, remembering the prior events of that weekend.

"You're assuming I remembered every costume she looked at while she tried to make up her mind," Ren reminded, thinking back to Nora's nature. "...And the costumes I had to fight to keep her from trying on."

"...That checks out," Jaune had to admit as he began unbuttoning his shirt, right as the door burst open. "Ack! A little warning!"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I'VE ARRIVED AT LAST!" Nora declared as she stood triumphantly in the doorway as… there's no easy way to say this, she came dressed up as an orange _Power Ranger._ (Tokusentai! Tokusentai! TOKUSENTAI!)

' _Sure is Amane in here,'_ Ren thought to himself.

"Aw Ren! You barely dressed up!" Nora said with disappointment as she looked over her partner. "I told you that magician costume would've been perfect!"

"...The short shorts are what killed that idea," he decided to inform her, causing Jaune to cringe as imagined something he clearly didn't want to. "I suppose all we're waiting on now is Pyrrha."

"Who should be around shortly; she said she'd just take another minute in the girl's bathroom," Nora said before looking at Jaune who had finally put on his costume's armor. "Nice! Very heroic there leader!"

"I mean… I'm trying to look the part at least," Jaune said, his tone telling them even with all of the work he'd put in and the progress he'd begun to make that he was still weighed down by his self doubts.

"Well I'd certainly say mission accomplished then," came a warm voice from behind the blonde. Jaune turned to face Pyrrha with a smile, but when he saw her he swore his jaw had hit the floor. "Ah… ah…"

"...I thought you were going as a huntress…" Ren noted, even his normal calm and collected face showing much surprise.

"And whoever said that?" the red head told her team with a teasing smile.

 _Ragna's Room_

' _It's just about that time… wonder what's taking them so long,_ ' Ragna thought to himself with a sigh as he laid on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. With Jin and Blake's help, the three had managed to finish setting up their decorations rather quickly and without much incident. While he could only hope that the others wouldn't immediately find some issue with his work, the Reaper had felt a small amount of pride with how the decore had come out. Now he just had a half hour before the party began and there was still no sign of Ruby and the others.

"I guess with any luck they'll be late and I'll be left to wear what I usually do," he thought aloud with a bit of smirk as he closed his eyes. It was getting dangerously close to the time of the party and while Ragna wouldn't normally care about such things he felt that he had something riding on this event. Normally this would be where something went wrong and try as he might, he knew that how little the chances were of something going awry his luck would always find a way to completely screw him over.

"Maybe I'm just being too damn paranoid… think I've thought of just about everything," he grumbled to himself as he closed his eyes and tried to force himself to relax with some meditative breathing he'd been taught but never really used. _A deep breath in… A slow breath out… A deep breath in…_ _A slow breath out… A deep breath in…_

His red and green eyes shot open in a scowl.

He smelled _roses._

Never a good sign.

"I see you're lazing about as usual," came a rather dignified sounding voice, even more so than Weiss's. Sitting on the chair by Ragna's desk was a small girl dressed in black gothic attire. She long hair with blonde pigtails tied together with a black bow. Her eyes were a deep crimson, much like his own right one.

"Tch… dammit Bunny Leach, you gotta bother me now of all times?" Ragna hissed, keeping his voice low so that no one out in the hallway could hear him. "What if someone sees you here, what then?"

"You concern is unneeded, as if I could possibly be careless enough to let myself be seen by such _children_ ," the enigma told him, Ragna flinching at the volume of such declaration.

"Keep your damn voice down!" he again demanded in whisper. "Now matter how big an' idiot you think anyone is, they still got eyes and ears you pretentious blood sucker!"

"And you keep assuming that I've come completely unprepared," the girl told, evidently bored unimpressed by their conversation thus far. "I've already put several powerful sound blocking seals on your room to prevent anyone from hearing my dignified tones or your barbaric grumbles." Ragna shot her a look of murder as he proceeded to get further insulted. "As for keeping anyone from seeing me, I took a more… let's call it a more _crude method_."

 _Out in the Hallway_

Kagura stood frozen just outside of Ragna door, unable to move as he looked at the entry way into the Grim Reaper's quarters. For all of the crap he continued to give him about spending the majority of his time with the all female cast of Team _RWBY_ , he never thought things would end up like this.

"Out in broad daylight too… he's got some balls then," he muttered to himself, finally forcing gaze to break from his stare and heading back to his team's room to ready himself for the party,. His entire walk down the hallway, he had to force himself to avoid looking back at Ragna's doorway with a sock over the doorknob.

 _Back inside Ragna's Room_

"Y… You did what?" the Reaper asked in terror, his face getting paler than he usually was… before flushing deep red with a mix of embarrassment and rage. "DAMN IT RACHEL! THE HELL!?"

"Just because I put those seals up it doesn't give you a reason to yell directly in my ear; your voice is already grating enough when you keep it at an indoor level," the mysterious girl now given the name Rachel told him.

"You're giving me reason to yell with all of the crap you're pulling on me!" Ragna shouted again, knowing he couldn't fix the sock on the door until he could get Rachel to leave. "Why in god's name are you bothering me now anyways; don't tell me you're just bitter I didn't give you a damn _Happy Birthday?_ "

"I'd like to think you just did, even if said delivery was laughably poor," Rachel noted.

"Bite me."

"A poor statement."

"Then suck it."

"Are you even trying now?"

"... _Forced Vampire word play_ ," the Reaper finished moodily.

"Honestly…" Rachel sighed at his behavior. "I've noticed that you've been letting yourself become rather lax lately and I've been growing very concerned that you're forgetting your position."

"Then quit worrying; I know what the hell I'm doing," Ragna told her seriously. "...Also I'd like it if you could ever decide to quit stalking me."

"Stalking you? Do you of think me as some kind of deviant, you mongroul?" she insultingly asked him with a glare in her eyes.

"You… don't want me to answer that," Ragna warned her truthfully, though this did little to improve Rachel's mood. "Besides, I didn't really have much of a choice when I made the damn 'deal' to come here. When I so much as _hinted_ that I didn't want to do this Qrow and Jubei looked like they were both ready to kick my ass."

"You're still calling it a deal then, are you?" Rachel noted, almost with a tone of curiosity. "Does that mean you still expect Qrow to deliver on his end like you're attempting to deliver on yours?"

"Is that what this is about? Why not just lead with that?" Ragna asked with a scowl, hating how complicated Rachel always had to make the simplest of things. "Look, Qrow may be three sheets to the wind ninety percent of the time and nursing the mother all hangovers the other ten, he might hit on anything with a chest and thighs, but he hasn't steered me wrong yet… I trust 'im."

"I see…" Rachel said as she seemed to think Ragna's words over. "You are an odd judge of character."

"Only cause I've got such an odd bunch to judge in the first place," the Reaper reminded. In a rare occurrence, Rachel seemed to giggle slightly at his comment. "Did I just get you to laugh? You sure you're feeling okay?"

"Oh hush you, I just happen to find what you say amusing once every blue moon; you should take that as a high honor," she told him quickly going back to her more insulting side.

"...You've been around me long enough to know that sure as hell ain't happening," Ragna told her bluntly.

"Hmph, then I suppose that you haven't any further claim to be graced with my presence," Rachel told him, keeping her small smile just the slightest bit smug. "I suppose I'll be off then."

"Rachel, wait…" Ragna's voice for once was even and calm, not laced with aggression or snarkiness. Turning back to the taller man, Rachel watched as he scratched the back of his head. "I mean… I don't have a gift for or anything, not that you'd take one from me…" A true point. "But… Happy Birthday."

"So you can _attempt_ to be well mannered when you actually try," the young vampiress noted, her smile gradually dropping its smugness. "...I suppose I've no choice but to appreciate the effort. So… Thank You Ragna, for showing you have a _sliver_ of decency."

' _Friggen' Tsun,'_ the Reaper thought to himself… right before his smug grin returned in full. "So is this a big one you're hitting? How old are you this time? Five hundred? A thousand? Two thousand?" Rachel's smile was gone, now returned with a burning glare aimed squarely at him. Without another word, she teleported and was gone only leaving behind the faintest smell of roses.

"All in all, I'd call that one a win," Ragna thought to himself aloud with a smirk… right before hearing a knock on his door.

"Ranga, I'd like to come in now," came Yang's voice, though oddly it sounded much more reserved than it usually was. "...If you're not… _busy_ in there… If you are I can just leave this out here for you."

' _Shit, the sock,_ ' Ragna thought to himself as he remembered Rachel's _method_ of keeping other students out. Knowing that just being silent would hit the Reaper with more problems, he headed to open the door with only a single plan in mind; play dumb. "What's got you so flustered?"

Flustered was a good word for it as Yang's skin tone seemed just a touch redder than it normally was. She looked like she'd been surprised when Ragna had opened the door and come out fully clothed… and it looked like she was trying to glance behind him to see who could possibly be in his room. If he hadn't needed to feign his innocence at that moment, Ragna might've given her a smug grin.

"What's up with you?" he asked, though knowing quite well what the reason must've been. Pointing Ragna's gaze to the doorway, his eyes landed on the sock in question. Its design indicated it was most likely to be worn by a male and it clearly wasn't from any pair that Ragna currently owned… something Ragna knew he could work with as he showed Yang a disgruntled look. "C'mon, this is _me_ we're talking about; some sick asshole probably just left that there as a joke." ' _Jeeze, I've been coming up with a lot of these half-truths lately.'_

"Oh! You're right! I mean, of course you're right, you're not that type of person," Yang said, though Ragna could easily see that she was having something of a girlish laugh as she pulled the sock off the doorknob and the threw it past Ragna into his room so she wouldn't have to look at it or think about what it implied

"Thanks… I think," Ragna said with a slightly confused response. "Where are the others?"

"Would you believe it that Blake's in our room with a stomach ache now of all times!?" Yang demanded with growing anger. "After all of the work we all put in she has to get sick right before the party!"

' _Must be her cover story,'_ Ragna thought before deciding he'd add to the cover. "Yeah, I saw that she was kinda off after you guys left… maybe she had a bad batch of fish in her tuna sandwich at lunch. Just let her rest, we can do something this weekend to cheer her up."

"That doesn't exactly fix this, but I guess you've got a good point, not much we can do now," Blake told him as she handed Ragna a dark bag. "Anyways, it was short notice but we managed to find you an outfit for tonight."Put it on quick and we'll get this show started! I gotta head back to the bathroom and help Weiss and Ruby get ready."

"Right, I'll…" A sudden realization hit the Reaper as he took the bag. "Wait, how are you sure I'm the right size for these?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Later!" Yang said as she once again showed potency for using a speed semblance as she decided to GTFO (you know what I mean).

"Yang!" Ragna called after the blonde, but again to no avail. Shaking his head at the sight, Ragna closed the door and looked at what he'd been given to work with. "...If I say I tried it on and it doesn't fit, I don't think those three have any room to protest… Nah, might as well humor them and see how they look."

One thing Ragna didn't exactly get with this outfit was where the girls had managed to find this suit, he felt like a biker just trying all of the black leather on with black artificial fur over it. To be fair there was some red markings around the chest almost looking like dark claw marks while made it seem more _Grimm-like_ than what he'd been already planning to wear. The main appeal to this design had to be the Grim Mask he was given, slim and only covering his upper face, but very foreboding especially with horns sticking out of the top. In addition there was even a small black cane included to complete the _Master of Ceremonies_ look that his outfit needed.

"...I don't think I look all that menacing… but then again I don't think I'm really supposed to," he decided before hearing a knock on the door. Giving one last sigh, he grabbed his cane and rested it over his shoulder.

"Door's unlocked," he called to whoever was on the other side, expecting either Yang or Ruby in their huntress attire. the door opened and instead revealed Weiss in her… _Grimm_ dress. "Holy…"

Though it was likely through the effect of a rare form of manufactured dust, Weiss had dyed her hair from its regular pale grey to a startling black. Instead of her regular white attire, she had instead elected to wear a black long dress with black stilettos for shoes and a black furry scarf around her neck. She'd applied makeup to her face and made it pale white while adding red paint to symbolise a _Grim's Mask_ with Makeup and worked her scar into the design.

"So… what do you think?" she asked, giving a small twirl not in a self-flattering way but so Ragna could see everything Weiss had done to the dress. Ragna hadn't responded and only continued to stare.

"You… you look…" Ragna tried to say when crossed her arms.

"Honestly, if you're having that much trouble finding your words…" Weiss sighed in disappointment. ' _Maybe I should ask for a second opinion._ '

"Gorgeous."

"...Eh?" she asked, looking at Ragna with surprise with a bright blush on her face.

"It's uh… it's a flattering look for you," the Reaper said as he scratched the back of his head, knowing what he'd just said might've been laying it on a little much. "I really like your costume… suits you nicely, like a _Grimm_ _Queen_ almost."

...Weiss's internal embarrassed scream had just returned in full as she was currently more red than her team leader's (even through the make up)… in fact mixed with all the black she was wearing, Ragna swore she was flying his colors.

"Um… well I… I suppose then every _Queen_ must have her _Knight,_ " Weiss continued, trying to retain her composure and shooting Ragna a smirk. "You did promise me a dance after all."

"Yeah, and I'll deliver… permitting that-"

"Oh! I like the fur on you, it adds to your mane!" came Yang's voice, interrupting the Reaper and Weiss's moment. Both of them turned to her with different reactions; Weiss with annoyance and Ragna with nothing but confusion.

"The hell…?"

"Introducing the _Golden Paladin!_ " Yang said as stood with her arms up in the air to mimic a hawk.

"And the _Crimson Valkyrie!_ " Ruby declared, crossing her arms with her hands making 'peace signs.' "AND TOGETHER WE ARE-!"

"THE HEROINES OF THE BURNING ROSE!" both declared in unison. Both wore a dress armor consisting up tight fitting breath plates, armored leggings with half skirts covering them, capes of their respective colors, and armored headgear positioned around their faces.

' _...Did they just make armor sexy?'_ Ragna thought to himself, somewhat disappointed that he was thinking along similar lines to Kagura.

"Told you I'd find something to knock your socks off!" Yang said as she approached Ragna and tapped a few times on his _Grimm_ mask. "So you like the outfit?"

"...It'll work on short notice," he promised gruffly, adjusting the fur which was starting to cause his neck to itch. "Leather suits aren't exactly my thing."

"Could've fooled me, you look right at home in that outfit," Yang declared with a smirk. "And what do you think about the _Burning Rose_?"

"...I could get used to it," he told them both and earned two smile. "C'mon, let's get this thing started."

"RIGHT!" Ruby declared. "Lead on Master-of-Scaremonies!"

"...Please tell me that's not going to be a thing…"

 _The Party_

As would be expected for a party of this nature, not a lot of those in attendance had gone as _Grimm_ and had instead tried to dress up as some over the top Hunter or Huntress stereotype. The few people that had gone with _Grimm_ outfit designs often times went clothes made to look like the creature's parts like Ragna and Weiss and rarely wore a full on costume (those students that had made costume more often than not found them bulky and more than a little stuffy). That being said, everyone was dressed up and the spirit of the event was certainly there in large supply.

Inside the crowd, Tsubaki stood alongside Azrael and Noel, waiting for when Jin and the rest of her team would show. The dress she wore was one loosely based off a white Greek design with a leather garter belt, sandals, and a small green ivy crown. Noel's dress was very similar save for the fact that hers was tinted sky blue. Azrael had put the least amount of effort out of any costume, simply slapping a _Grimm Mask_ over his face as wore his regular clothing.

"Shouldn't the party have started by now?" the _Mad Dog_ asked as he eyed the buffet which hadn't been delivered that long ago.

"Mind your manners," Tsubaki scolded him, not stopping in her search for Jin and his team. "I'm sure the party will start soon enough, just hold off until then will you?"

"Grr… people are already drinking punch," Azrael muttered as he noticed a couple of the students standing by the punch bowl while serving blood colored drinks, making small talk, and laughing at each other's jokes. ' _...Odds are that thing's going to end up spiked with something by the end of the night.'_

"Well go over there and start drinking then, or are you too afraid to go and talk to anyone?" Tsubaki questioned aggressively as she glared at the _Mad Dog_ , leading Azrael to give a mean snarl. "Honestly, you just can't get along with anyone here without asking for a fight."

"Tsubaki?" came Jin's voice, apparently having arrived in the short times that she'd taken her eyes off looking for him. Jin was dressed in a black swordsman's kimono, with loose pants and wooden sandals. Despite dressing as a swordsman, it was clear he was going as a grim with half of a jagged mask covering the right side of his face. "Oh, I didn't know you were coming as a huntress…"

"I… thought you were coming as a hunter," she admitted. Tsubaki had already been a little nervous about coming with Jin to the party in the first place, and even a mix up this small was enough to worry her.

"Well I don't see why this should be a problem," Jin admitted, seeming to adapt to the change rather quickly. "I suppose I could take my mask off if it continues to bother you."

"No, I think that's fine," Tsubaki told him as she smiled and tried to relax. "I'm happy to be here with you at all…"

"Aw, nice to see you too lovebirds haven't changed much at all from your academy days," came Kagura's voice from behind Jin.

"We're not lovebirds!" Tsubaki shouted in denial as Jin sighed and facepalmed at his teammate's annoying claims. "And why aren't you dressed up? You're just wearing what you normally do!"

"Because I think everyone knows how heroic I already look dressed in my regular getup," Kagura said with a wink to some nondescript girls (basically the shadow NPC's) who then gave a blush. "And I couldn't go hiding this face behind a _Grimm Mask_ , could I-MPFHHH?"

"Here, take mine," Azrael growled as he began thrust his own mask upon Kagura with just a single hand. "I just came here for the food anyways…"

"At least honest about it," Noel sighed from beside Tsubaki. "Are you sure we have enough food? Maybe I can make more and-"

"Oh don't even think that for a second darling!" came Amane's voice as the dancer gave an eccentric laugh. Oddly enough, he almost looked masculin in his plated samurai mail with his hair done in a long ponytail. "I'm going to make sure _everyone_ here dances the night away!"

...It was at this point everyone made a note to mind their distance in case Amane tried to use his odd semblance on them.

"It sounds like a lot fun!" Celica commented. She was dressed in a purple corset and shirt set with a large hat to signify her role as a witch. "I can't wait to for this party to get started! I hope Ragna will get here soon, then maybe we can get the first dance together!"

"...All things considered, you may have to wait in line," Jin declared hollowly. "After all, I'm sure that he'll be taking the first few dances with Team _RWBY._ "

"Aw, still jealous Jinny?" Kagura said as he finally managed to take off the mask the Azrael had slapped on his face, throwing it expertly over his shoulder into the waste bin behind him.

"Don't call me that," Jin demanded with an icy scowl. "And I believe I could ask you the same." He tried not to smirk at the wince he'd given to Kagura with his words.

"Hey, who's the total babe over there?" the group heard one of the student say from the crowd. "That redhead dressed up like a _Grimm?_ "

"Dude… I think that's Pyrrha Nikos!" another student informed.

"You're kidding! A celebrity like that isn't going as a Huntress?" one of the female students exclaimed.

"...Honestly, I think she still looks pretty hot," another student admitted, only to get slapped by his date.

Much like Weiss had been, Pyrrha was wearing a black dress but hers was intentionally torn with sharp edges further down. She didn't have a mask or white makeup, but she had applied plenty of eyeshadow. Around her neck was a fake bone necklace to give a tribal look and her shoulders were plated with _Grimm_ skulls. Give her a spear and she'd look exactly like a tribal huntress.

"...Target acquired," Kagura said with a smile on his face. "I think I know who I'll be getting my last dance this evening from."

"Hmph, just try not make a fool out of our team," Jin commanded, though he personally felt what Kagura did was his business. "...It looks like the show's about to start."

Ragna entered the room accompanied by the three present girls of Team _RWBY_ , though it seemed like only Jin had noticed as the students continued to chatter.

"I got this," Yang said with a smirk. "HEY! ARE YOU ALL READY TO PARTY!" The response was a collective cheering from the students. "WELL WE'RE ABOUT TO GET GOING, BUT FIRST GIVE IT UP FOR THE GUY THAT SET THIS WHOLE THING UP!"

"What? But you all did more work than I did," Ragna muttered as he scratched the back of his head.

"So what? Enjoy your moment!" Ruby said as the crowd gave another cheer for Ragna… though it wasn't nearly as loud as the one Yang had gotten. Scratching the back of his head, Ragna made his way forward for the opening address.

"Alright, everyone listen up cause I'm only going to say this once. You'll all notice that _Goodwitch_ isn't here.." Violently swinging the cane, he pointed it at the crowd with a harsh scowl upon his face. "But so help me god if any of you do something stupid, you'll be begging that she was here to begin with!"

' _That's… not how you open a party,'_ Weiss thought with a bit of a cringe.

"Food's on the table, pictures are up for two Platinum Lien a pop, and we've already got a DJ to take requests. Wait in line, don't double dip, and keep it in your pants so we'll all make it through tonight without regrets."

"...Worst… opening… ever," Ruby commented from behind him, causing a harsh blow to the Reaper's confidence.

"...Just don't screw this up," he muttered as a last send off before nodding to the DJ who began playing music, and the party was in full swing. "Dammit, I hate speaking to crowds…"

"Really, I thought you were a natural," Yang told him sarcastically.

" _Yare yare daze_ …" Ragna sighed, right as Yang grabbed his arm. "Eh?"

"Come on! You're not just planning to leave now that you've started the party, are you?" she asked with a smirk.

"...Had I know that was an option from the start I might have," he admitted. "So, you want to dance?"

"Normally it's the guy that asks the girl, but you move a little slow for me," she said waving to the others as she proceeded to drag Ragna off… though interestingly enough he didn't protest.

"I guess I'll head for the cookies then," Ruby said, using her speed semblance to dash after the food. Weiss considered going after her to make sure she didn't go out of hand, but the present situation seemed to require a different approach.

Down below on the dance floor Ragna was… managing.

"I take it Weiss didn't teach you how to do the more modern dances," Yang noted as Ragna kept moving just a bit out of rhythm with everything else.

"Big deal, it's not like anyone cares what the hell I look like," Ragna muttered as he moved, trying to keep a hold on his cane and keeping it from hitting any of the other students.

"So… did she only show you slow dances then?" Yang teased, giving Ragna a flirty smile.

"...Let me guess, your next question is how close we were dancing, right?"

"Aw, take the wind out of my sail's why don't you?" Yang responded in defeat.

"And that makes my next response: none of your damn business," he told her, indicating he wanted the subject to end.

"Spoilsport," she said a slight insult as the two continued to dance. "Are you having fun at least?"

"...If you are, then I guess I am," he told her without making eye contact. "Though…"

"Though what?" she asked, only for Ragna to shot a small smirk back.

"I think I'd be having more fun getting into another doubles match," he told her. Now it was Yang's turn to smirk.

"I'm holding you to that this friday."

On the other side of the room Jin stood off to the side, far from the crowds. He was leaning against the wall with Tsubaki standing beside him, not having left his side thus far. He was looking to his brother dancing with Yang in towards the center, not taking his eyes off of them. Eventually, he gave a small smirk.

"He still can't dance," he muttered, before finally breaking contact and turning to Tsubaki. "Sorry, but I don't think I'll be dancing tonight either."

"I… see…" Tsubaki said, trying not to show disappointment. "But if you weren't going to, then why did you ask me to this party?"

"...In all honesty I came to support my brother," Jin told her. At this news, Tsubaki's lip twitched for all of a brief second and Jin noticed it. "...You don't have to hate him for my sake… I've already moved on from what he's done."

"...Even so, I can't forgive him for hurting you like that," she said as she scowled at the dancing form of Ragna. "He knew he'd hurt you if he went chasing revenge on his own… and he still left…"

"That may be and I used to think he'd only done that because he thought that I'd slow him down… but lately I've had some time to change my thinking on that subject," he turned his attention back to his brother. "Tsubaki, remember that what you made me promise you when we first met years ago?"

"You mean… that promise?" Tsubaki asked as she smiled a little at the memory. "That you'd be my older brother, right?"

"And keeping that promise, let's say that you were attacked and I told you to run while I defended you…" Jin was silent for a long moment. "Would I be doing that because I thought you were weak or… that you were important to me and I wanted to protect you?"

Tsubaki didn't say anything.

"Azrael brought something to my attention months ago; that you would have failed in your entrance exam if Ragna hadn't stepped in."

"Yes… that's true," Tsubaki admitted with shame.

"...Ragna also thought it would be a good idea if I invited you to dance tonight. He said you'd… that you wanted me to ask you."

"He… he did?" Tsubaki asked as she looked to Ragna, this time not with a scowl, but just trying to figure out what the hell he was thinking.

"Can you do me a favor and try to get along with him a little more?" Jin asked, before thinking back to the conversation that he and his brother had after their match on Friday. "I still need to try and stop him before it's too late."

"...I can do that," Tsubaki promised before she turned to Jin. "But in return, do you think you can be a little nicer to Noel? You've… always had a problem with her, but you'll never tell us why…"

"...I can try," Jin promised, and Tsubaki took that news with a smile.

"...Also, you owe me a slow dance later," she decided.

"...That's fair."

 _Team RWBY's Room_

"...We does my hearing have to be so good?" Blake sighed to herself as she laid in bed with a groan. The party wasn't that close to the dorm rooms, but thanks to her gifted hearing she could hear the music blaring from far away loud and clear. "Honestly…" Figuring there was nothing else for it, she rose from her head and grabbed her towel. She was about to leave for the showers… before realizing she'd almost forget something. Turning to her weapons resting by her bed, she debated for a long moment whether or not she would need them… before hurriedly grabbing them and heading for a bit of self pampering.

 _The Dance_

Back on the dance floor the first song had finally ended, much to Ragna's relief; dancing around so much with the fur was starting to give his neck a bad rash. "That's done with… now what?"

"I… say we should get off the dance floor; probably before the next song starts," Yang told him, a response that Ragna hadn't been expecting.

"Hang on; normally you'd try and keep me here for as long as you could so I can't play wallflower… what's so different about this time?"

"Well I-" Yang tried to begin, before the music began to play. ...The _slow_ music.

"A romantic song, eh?" Ragna noted before looking at Yang. "So… you don't want to _slow dance_ with me?"

"I-I-It's not you," Yang admitted with a slight blush. "I mean.. It's really just-"

"You can't slow dance, can you?" he questioned, causing Yang to freeze. At such reaction, Ragna gave a wolf's smile. "And… seeing how you insisted that I go with you to the more upbeat dance…"

"...Please don't," the blonde begged.

"Karma's a bitch," the Reaper snarkily returned. As he slowly approached her and-

"There you are!" Weiss voice cut through, stopping them both. "Sorry Yang, but I need to move in here." Before Ragna could ask what _move in_ meant, the Schnee heir made her way between the two of them and looked at Ragna, offering him her hand.

"Uh… go ahead?" Yang said, very confused but still ready to take the ex-machina. "I'll… go see Ruby then."

"Make sure she doesn't eat _all_ of the cookies," Ragna called before turning his attention to Weiss. "So care to explain what-?"

"Why Ragna, I'd love to dance with you! Thank you for asking me!" she declared, far louder than she had to over these softer tones. Knowing something was up, Ragna glanced around until his eyes landed on… Jaune.

The leader of _JNPR_ had been heading over towards the two, most likely to ask Weiss to dance with him, but Weiss declaration at Ragna's 'proposal' had stopped him in his tracks… and left him standing there looking awkward. The Grim Reaper felt sorry for Jaune sure, but at Weiss's pleading look he decided he'd have to make it up to him later. Putting his cane inside one of his belt loops, he took Weiss's hands.

"Talk," he whispered as the two began to slow dance.

"I've gotten about three different invitations from Jaune to this dance and I have to keep telling him no," she told Ragna back, clearly infuriated. "He's clearly not getting the message, even if I have to be direct about it."

"C'mon, I'm sure he means well…" Ragna noticed… before seeing something out of the corner of his eye. Amane Nishiki was approaching Jaune. ' _That can't be good…'_

As the two of them danced on, neither heard what Amane was saying, but it was clear Jaune was a little scared being cornered by the dancer. The two talked for a couple good minutes, but when it was over Jaune gave one last look to Ragna and Weiss… before heading over and talking to Pyrrha. Ragna still didn't know what was going on as Jaune talked to her, but after just a few words Pyrrha's eyes seemed to light up.

"...I'll be damned."

"He's dancing with Pyrrha?" Weiss asked as the two did in fact come onto the dance floor… though it was clear that Jaune needed to be lead for most of the slow dance. "Remind me to thank Amane later…"

"Jaune's not that bad, is he?" Ragna had to ask.

"...I guess he's not…" Weiss admitted.

"And it's not like he's not trying his hardest," the Reaper again defended.

"It's just… I don't think Jaune's the one for me… He's just not my type."

"Okay, that's something I can believe a bit easier… so what are you looking for in a guy?"

"Why are you asking now?" Weiss asked Ragna with a bit of a protective scowl at her privacy.

"What, you're not worried I might find out that I meet all of your standards are you?" Ragna asked with a smirk.

"...Are you worried that you'll fall terribly short?" Weiss asked in return with her scowl.

"Well do you have a guy you like at least?"

"...I don't really know… maybe," Weiss finally admitted, before moving forward and resting her head on Ragna's chest. "...This fur itches."

"I know, right?" he muttered as he continued to move, keeping Weiss close to him. As the song finally began to wind down, Ragna was about give a small bow to Weiss… before noticing that several couples were exchanging small kisses, either on the hands, cheek, or even lips. "Uh…" Hell, even _Jaune_ got a friendly peck on the cheek from Pyranha… before promptly fainting. "Er…"

"I mean..." Weiss tried to say as the two looked at each other. Ragna was nervous, but he decided that if she didn't mind... Weiss didn't come closer, but she didn't seem to shy away either as the distance closed. He had almost touched her when…

…

…

…

...

' _...Fucking roses.'_

He noticed the threat out of the the corner of his eye. Pushing Weiss away, the girl gave a yelp as she landed on her rump the instant before his head was completely doused by the punch bowl. A few of the student shrieked at the sudden event while those standing by the punch bowl (like Yang and Ruby) looked like they'd seen a ghost.

"It… it's like it just leaped on top of you," Ruby said with terror as she headed over to Ragna with napkins from the table trying to dry him off as he just stood at the center of the mess with an angry scowl. "Ah man, it's all over you…"

"I know," he said bluntly, and with more venom than he meant. Shaking his head, he turned to Yang… before seeing that many of the students were starting to get drunk. Much like Azrael had though, some _had_ spiked it. "Dammit, keep running this thing and keep everyone in line while I'm gone, I'm going to get a shower."

"R-Right," Yang told him as she brought a few small paper towels over to clean up the mess. If Ragna hadn't known _exactly_ what had caused that, he might've been annoyed at the alcohol he was smelling… along with.

Ragna took a long sniff of his costume's fur and gagged. It smelled like a wet dog but somehow a hundred times worse. Noticing the trash bin he finally ripped it off, not content to have a rash _and_ have his nostrils assaulted.

 _Meanwhile -The Dark Outlands-_

"Bored, bored, bored, bored… Just when I was hoping for something interesting here I am being put on cat-sitting… dog-sitting… _everything_ -sitting," a man out in the woods sighs to himself. He's dressed in a well made formal suit complete with a tie and a dark long coat. His dress shoes have metal plates over them and he has a hand resting on his prized fedora as he walks through the dark wood lands. "Urk… As if my allergies alone weren't enough, this damp air is _NOT_ good for my suit. How can anyone stand to live in these mudholes?"

"I'd keep those complaints to yourself if I were you, I doubt that our potential allies would like the way that you're talking about them." The owner of this voice was also something of a mystery; a young lady in a red dress with dark hair covering one of her eyes. "And knowing the Fanus, I imagine hearing you won't be that difficult."

"Like I care, I've been twiddling my thumbs here for too long already, and what? I'm supposed to wait here until I hear orders? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this was either some form of punishment or that she actually doesn't like me."

"You think that our leader actually cares about you, snake?" the woman asks before laughing. "I can't tell if you're a comedian or completely delusional?"

"Oh I'm very in touch with reality… that's why I have to take my little laughs where I can," he says in return. "Honestly, I'm already holding onto so many cards and who gets to go for the big show? That pain in the ass Torchwick who can't even stand up to some prissy little wannabe and a hag that's clearly past her prime… not like you were much help there either."

"...I'd watch it if I were you," the woman advised as she brought her hand up, setting it alar. "I can turn you to ashes anytime I want."

"Hah! That's an amazing lie, you almost had me there…" the man said with a cackle, opening one of his eyes and revealing a snake like pupil. "We both know that little powers of yours isn't complete yet, since you happened to botch that job too…" He smirked. "Even if it was fully yours… who could say?"

"Are you doing nothing but getting on our nerves? We're approaching one of our important phases and all you can do is sit here, complain, and make a mockery of all of us."

"When you make it so easy, can you really blame me for not helping myself?" he asked again. Deciding she was done with him, the woman turns away and begins to head back. "Have fun in school kiddo! I'm sure Auntie picked your favorite lunch…"

The figure saw the flash of fire ignite her entire arm and he didn't care. Dodging deftly to the side, the allowed the trees behind him setting off a small forest fire.

"Temper temper," he said now only to himself. "And to think, she's the _easy_ one to deal with. There's no dealing with Torchwick or…" He shuddered in disgust. "THAT freak… speaking of which, he hasn't been around very recently, even if he's suppose to be their leader… Yet another reason I hate babysitting; it means someone else isn't doing their damn job."

 _Beacon Academy: Student Dormitories_

' _Taking that shower was a good idea…'_ Blake thought to herself with a relieved sigh as she exited the bathroom with a damp towel over her shoulder. Her hair and clothing was slightly damp from the water and her ribbon was looser than it usually was, but she felt more than relaxed enough to not let it bother her. This was already a stressful day for her and showering before lying in bed with a good book sounded like just the thing she needed.

Even given the distance she was from the festivities, she couldn't help but overhear the music blaring and the cheers and screams of the party goers. It sounded like the celebration Ragna had put on was in full swing and would continue to be quite some time. Normally she'd take ear muffs to help her focus on her reading… but given her ear's locations it would have been difficult to do without giving away her identity.

' _No matter what I do I think I'll be in for a long night,'_ she thought to herself with a sigh. ' _It's just one day of the year… I think I can try to manage through this much… '_

Sighing, she made her way through the dormitory halls and headed to her team room ready to try and tuck in for the night. Stopping in front of the door, she went to open it only to realize that she'd locked it on her way out… and she didn't have her key.

"Great… now what am I supposed to do?" she muttered aloud as her forehead slumped against the doorway in defeat. That was when she heard footsteps approaching her from down the hallway. Turning to the source, she looked up and striding towards her-

…

…

…

…

...

...Blake's blood went cold.

...Her yellow eyes grew wide in terror.

...Her lips quivered uncontrollably.

A figure dressed completely in black clothing holding something in their left hand that looked like a familiar weapon. Spiked hair as red as blood and dripping from a recent kill making it even more terrifying…

And a slim mask made to represent the monstrous _Grimm_ in him, shaped like a eye shield to cover the terrifying pupils that lie beneath.

" _Blake?_ "

She couldn't even hear her own name through the overwhelming fear, her vision almost seemed to go dark as her heart was pounding so hard it was deafening. She stuttered something incoherent, little more than a string of terrified noises as she took a terrified step back.

" _What's wrong?"_

A hand reaches towards her towards her, menacingly and wanting to choke the very life out of her lungs. Sweat beads rapidly form on her brow as she takes another trembling step back… her hand brushes against her weapon snapping from terror to panic.

"BLAKE! DON'T!"

...Her gunshots and screams rang throughout the hallway.

 _-Meanwhile-_

Rachel sat in the center of her garden's countless roses, sipping finely made tea as an older man stands off to the side in a butler's uniform, remaining vigilant and ready should the need to assist her every need arise. It's a common setting for the two… but, something seems off. Setting down her cup upon her saucer, the two are startled as the tea set she'd so delicately placed showed a horrid cut on it.

Back in the outlands however, the suited man looked up at the broken moon and gave the smallest of smirks… holding onto knowledge and abilities that any mortal couldn't _dream_ of having.

 _-Beacon-_

 _...Click ...Click ...Click ...Click_

Even after she'd emptied an entire clip, even after the figure had stopped moving towards her, a terrified Blake couldn't help but continue to squeeze the gun's trigger. The figure that she'd just filled with lead stood motionlessly before her, the bullet wounds starting to let out little trickles of crimson blood.

 _Clack_

The object the person was holding fell to the floor clattering useless against it. A small trail of blood started to emerge from the person's mouth as their legs slowly gave out and they fell forward.

" _The… hell…?_ "

Those two words alone broke Blake from her earlier daze. Now a different type of terror alit her face as the figure fell forward, landing face first on the ground with a dull thud. The impact sent the mask flying from it wearer's face and clattered to the ground. Now out of her fright induced daze, looking at the object told her the terrifying truth that it wasn't the mask she dreaded so; it was far too rounded and the red painting on the front was of a ridged much less elegant style and the horns were actually a part of the mask. The object the person had dropped wasn't a sheathed black katana like she had thought, rather it was a black walking cane that a gentleman would carry. Dropping her gun to the floor, she rushed over to the limp body and turned it over, her mind wanting to be careful but her body too frantic to listen.

...The face confirmed her second nightmare that night… she'd _shot_ Ragna. The Grim Reaper's eye and mouth were close almost like he was sleeping, but the bullets wounds continued to leak his blood.

"N...No…" she said, her mind painfully coming to terms with what had just happened. Despite his body and clothing slowly soaking his own blood, Blake put her ribbons covered ears to his chest and tried to listen for his heartbeat… only to be met with harrowing silence. "No… NO… R-RAGNAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Blake couldn't remember that last time she had cried, not like this. Slumping her head over her friend's chest she continued to cry as Ragna lay dead on the floor. The only person that had ever learned her secret, one of the few people she could truly see as her friend, a person that a always said that he'd have her back… only to get gunned down by her.

"...Urk," she heard a light groan come from Ragna's mouth, his features harshly wincing as he looked at her with a single red eye. It shouldn't have been possible, not with how many bullets she'd put in him and how many vitals she'd obviously hit, but his movements made it clear that Ragna could still be counted amongst the living. "...Was my costume _that_ good?"

As expected, such words weren't the sort to put Blake's mind at ease. As Ragna slowly forced himself to get up though a pained wince, he noticed Blake slowly back away from him. Her eyes a lit with terror as she looked at the Bloody Reaper, still traumatized with what she'd just seen as he mind raced. Dense as he was, Ragna now knew this wasn't the time for joking…

"Blake…" he started, his tone hollow and his voice raspy. Blake just stared at him, to startled to even look away. She was ready for him to blow up her, to utter deserved crassness, to call her name, _something_.

"Are you alright?"

Ragna had just been shot by her hand, even if he was alive it was quite clear he was in terrible pain and still bleeding out all over the floors… but he wasn't mad at her far from it, Ragna was worried at her.

Blake collapsed her knees, unable to move and unable to stop crying. Ragna knew that he'd have to give her time to come to terms with what she'd done… but knowing his luck, someone might've heard those shots and time might've been something he didn't. Seeing that she was in no position to move, he placed his arm under her and began to carry her bridal style. The contact caused Blake to freeze, but not for long as he Ragna held her close… almost to protect her.

"Sorry about this. You can kick my ass later if you want," he muttered as he carried her off to his room. "For now I gotta move quick."

Even though she was covered in his blood, Ragna set the cat fanus on his bed and went so far as to put the top blanket over her so she'd have something to give her comfort. Blake herself was still frozen, thought about Ragna being shot rushing through her mind… along with those of who she thought he'd been.

"I'll be back soon, I promise," Ragna said after he'd situated her. Grabbing out his scroll from his desk, he began to furiously type as he practically sprinted for the janitor's supplies.

 _Yang, I need you three to take charge of the party… I got caught up in something…_

He had no idea if he the message was going to even reach her, but the last thing he needed was the entire team head down and see that blood puddle. Undoing the lock on the Janitor's supplies, the Reaper quickly grabbed what he needed and started cleaning the macabre sceen… thinking it was fortunate that blood was easier to get out than whatever Noel's cooking was. He'd just managed to get the last trace of it out when his scroll buzzed.

 _This is your party you know. What's happened?_

Shit, excuses… Ragna knew that Yang couldn't accept an 'I'll tell you later' and let him miss out on the festivities. Hell, the only reason she hadn't pressured Blake into going to the party was… Heading back to his room, Ragna managed to come up with an alibi that would save him.

 _Found Blake collapsed in the Hallway, looks like she took a shower , but got locked out. Threw up in the hall and got some on my costume. I brought her back to my room, but don't tell anyone; you know this is the last thing I need after that sock incident this morning._

It was a good lie, filled with enough truth to get him through, the as Ragna opened the door to his room he got another _unintentional_ truth added when he heard Blake vomit. Thankfully she was close to his trash can, but a few bits still missed and hit the floor. Shaking, Blake tried to get back into bed but had trouble putting her head onto the pillow. Ragna headed over to help, but just touching Blake seemed to cause her to shiver.

"Hey, hey, it's me," he said as softly as he could. Blake then looked at him with terror still in her eyes as she saw Ragna's stained red hair and his bleeding clothes; time to fix both of those. Grabbing his regular black hakama, he started heading to the showers to get all of the extra red off of him. Right before he turned the water on, he got another message from Yang.

 _Are you sure we shouldn't come back? Weiss has a key to our room and we can move Blake back._

To which he responded:

 _I'm sure, I just got her to lie down and start to recover. Think she's got some kinda a fever dream and moving her could just make her throw up again. Leave Blake and her mess to me, I need you three handle the party and the drunks. Sides, I can't head back if my costume is ruined, can I?_

He didn't even give the water time to warm up before he threw himself in, trying to get blood off him and the punch out of his hair. Knowing he had to head back to Blake, he only spent a few minutes in the shower before dressing himself. Luckily his healing factor had pushed the bullets and healed in that time. His time spent on his hair hadn't yielded perfect results, but at least it was no longer crimson and now showed as a light pink. Checking his scroll he saw that he had a message from Yang.

 _I should be there, but if you really want to make sure she's safe, I won't stop you. Just make sure she's okay… even if you have to stay up with her all night._

Ragna's response was two words long.

 _I promise._

 _The Next Morning_

Blake gave a pained groan as she slowly opened her eyes and let out a low groan. Her mind felt a strange mix between muddled and searing with hot pain. Her vision was blurred, but it slowly started to adjust and… she realized that this wasn't her room.

"Morning," came a tired but familiar voice. Blake turned and saw Ragna sitting on his desk chair. "Feeling okay?" Seeing him here brought back the events of yesterday, and Blake slowly turned her head away with guilt. "...I'll take that as a no."

"...Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Blake asked as she slowly found her voice, still not able to look at her friend. "After all I-"

I get the feeling it wasn't me that you were shooting at," Ragna interrupted. "Besides I'm fine; wasn't the first time I've been filled by lead and I'm pretty damn sure that it won't be the last either… I ain't that easy to kill." Blake didn't respond, so the Reaper tried again. "If you're worried about your team, I think they're okay. Told 'em you got looked out, threw up, so I took care of ya. You've still got an out."

' _An… an out?_ ' Blake thought in her mind.

"Let's just keep what happened between us, I doubt anything good will happen if word of this got out," he told her. "Maybe we can…" Ragna paused as he noticed Blake was tearing up again. "...What is it now?"

"I… I can't keep doing this…" she said, trying to speak through her tears. "I...I've held onto so many secrets… I've j-just been running… A-And I could've killed you… I… I can't do this…"

"Blake," the Reaper began before standing from his chair. He then headed over to his bed and sat besides Blake, putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "...I… You don't have to do this alone. Even if I don't know everything, I know that whatever the hell it is you're hiding it ain't enough to drive me away… I'm ready to hear you out whenever you want."

"I…" Blake tried to say, but it was hard for her. "I…"

That was when Ragna wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close to him as he could. Blake froze, not out of something as trivial as embarrassment, but out of the warmth of the hold. Ragna truthfully didn't have any idea what the hell he was doing… he just knew Blake needed someone to listen and he'd have to do his damndest to fill the role.

"I'm not letting you go through this hell alone Blake… You ain't getting rid of me that easily…" The only response Ragna got was the cat fanus beginning to cry once more, this time into his shoulder while he continued to hold her close.

 _Later -Team RWBY's Room-_

"...Did anyone else manage to get some sleep?" Ruby asked her team once the girls had finished changing into their school uniforms. Breakfast would begin soon and classes would start shortly after… but the girls had a more pressing concerns.

"Not much," Yang sighed with guilt. "Blake's supposed to be my partner and I couldn't even tell when she was sick… and what did I do? I left Ragna to pick up the pieces."

"You can't blame yourself for that, we all thought it was just a small stomach ache," Weiss told her. "And as for Ragna… I think when it came down to it he'd rather be taking care of her than hosting that party anyways."

"You don't understand, this was a big chance to get him to have some fun for once and we blew it," Yang sighed. "He's always helping us and this party was a big chance to pay him back… but he barely lasted ten minutes in there. All we ended up doing was helping him plan it and I had to keep driving him over on it."

"We can still make it up to him… can't we?" Ruby said, first sounding determined, but then actually questioning what she was saying. There was a small knock on the door and despite being in a somewhat dour mood, she headed to open it hoping that there was some news from Ragna… only to see Blake with him.

(Cue _**Blazblue ChronoPhantasma**_ _Stardust Memories_ )

"Blake! Y-you're alright!" she exclaimed.

"Easy," Ragna muttered, holding his arm out to give Blake some room as she returned to her team's room. "She had a pretty bad night so give her some room, yeah?"

"Blake…" Yang began as she got to her feet and headed over to her partner despite Ragna's warning. It wasn't good, she saw that Yang's face was red and that her eyes were puffy from crying. "Are… are you okay?" A dumb question, but what else could she say? Blake didn't say anything for a long while before she slowly closed the door behind her.

"...I'm… I'm sorry for keeping secrets," she finally said her voice low and her head held in shame.

"...Secrets?" Weiss repeated. That's when Blake slowly brought her trembling hand upwards, having some trouble before they finally latched onto her bow. She took a deep breath, but it was clear she was scared.

"I promised I'd have your back," Ragna said from behind her. "You're not alone here…"

The three watched with wide eyes as Blake's bow slowly became undone as the cloth parted from her head and slowly drifted to the floor. Where the piece of fabric had once been were Blake's black Fanus cat ears… left for everyone to see.

"You… you're a Fanus?" Yang asked. Blake slowly nodded. "And that's what's been worrying you?" Another nod. Before Ragna could protest, Yang walked forward and wrapped her arms around her partner. "Dummy… you never had to hide that from me." Once more Blake froze, but this time it was for all of a moment before she slowly returned the embrace.

"You didn't have to hide it from me either, Fanus or not you're still Blake to me," Ruby said as she came in and hugged from the side. Weiss seemed to hesitate for all of a moment before shaking her head and joining in the team ground hug herself. Ragna remained to the side and simply watched, crossing his arms with smallest of smirks on his face.

' _It might just be the first step… but at least that's the hard part out of the way,'_ he thought to himself. "...Good luck." Blake caught up on those words and slowly turned her head to face him. The Reaper was giving her that same warm smile that she'd only seen a few times before as he was heading for the door… before Yang stretched her arm out to grab his jacket's collar and force him into the group hug. ' _Of course.'_

"There's… there's still a lot that I have to tell you about, and not all of it's very good," Blake admitted.

"You'll just have to tell us a little bit at a time then," Yang informed. "However long it takes, we're all willing to hear you out."

"I'm in agreeance as well," Weiss told her. "I'll support you as both a team member and your friend."

"Yeah! Team _RWBY_ always stands together! Right Ragna?" Ruby asked, turning to the Reaper who wasn't exactly _uncomfortable_ in the center of the group hug.

' _Aren't I on Team RAIN?'_ he thought to himself before deciding that had become something of a moot point _long_ ago. "Yeah, I'm here too… however much that's worth."

"It's worth everything, really," Blake told him as the group embrace slowly ended. She picked her ribbon off from the floor and was about to put it on, but Ragna stopped her.

"Don't. You've already come this far, might as well go all the way," he advised. Blake looked at the fabric before smiling and pocketing, deciding she wouldn't be needing it. "Besides-"

"If anyone has a problem with me being a Fanus you'll kick their ass, I remember," Blake finished for him with a smirk with was returned by Ragna's smile.

"Though… don't go telling that to Azrael. He might try to bully you just to get a fight out of me," the Reaper admitted as he scratched the back of his head, while Yang gave a small snicker.

"C'mon, I think it's time for breakfast," she said before coming up with an idea. "Oh, I'll try to find something light so it's easy on your stomach! Come on Weiss!"

"Y-Yang! Hold on! I-!" Weiss gave Ragna a pleading look as the blonde proceeded to drag her off, to which he _of course_ had to return with a smile that was equal measures sweet as it was sadistic. ' _That little-!'_

"That's really not necessary," Blake tried to say, but doing so far too late. With a sigh, she turned to Ragna. "I should probably stop them; the last we need is for them to wreck the whole cafeteria on my account."

"I think they'd managed to do that anyways honestly," the Reaper admitted as he knew what Yang could do when she was motivated. "On the plus side, any chaos they cause will keep attention off of you, right?"

"...That's true," she said giving Ragna one last thankful smile before following after her team, leaving the two team leaders alone.

"So… still don't think that you're a total softy?" Ruby asked teasingly as she gave Ragna a playful nudge in the ribs.

"...You kidding shorty? I'm as much as a hardass as ever," he told her sarcastically as he leaned down with a challenging smirk.

"Shorty!? Who are you calling short!?" Ruby demanded as she leaned forward with a cute scowl.

"I call 'em like I see 'em, deal with it," Ragna told her with a toothy grin as the two friends continued to challenge each other's gaze. "C'mon, let's get something to eat… maybe there's something left from that buffet I couldn't enjoy."

"Probably not going to happen; Azrael, Nora, and the students sort of tore through everything we set up," Ruby admitted, remembering the events of last night. "And with me and the cookies…"

"Well that checks out," the Reaper muttered, slumping his head forward and knowing his own luck all too well.

At Ragna's sigh, Ruby had a feeling that he'd been through more than enough lately and that he needed some cheering up… and only one idea came to mind at the moment.

"...Thanks for helping Blake out… and the rest of us,""she said getting Ragna's attention. As he brought his head back up, Ruby got close to Ragna and gave him the tightest hug she could. Not the most intimate or (dare I say it) sexiest way of thanking him… but it was certainly enough for Ragna's face to light up. Forcing himself to get over his own awkwardness, he gave a small and slightly nervous smirk as he returned the embrace.

" _Trust me… You four are helping me out more than you could ever know."_


	13. Experience and Secrets

_**Crimson XIII: Experience and Secrets**_

"...Alright I'll bite, what did I do this time?" Ragna asked as he stood before Professor Ozpin. For the few minutes that he'd been in the office, Ozpin hadn't said a word more than the standard greeting he gave his student, only seeming to observe the Reaper. Ragna was starting to grow annoyed with always getting called out by the head of the academy immediately after classes or right before dinner, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice.

"What did you do?" Ozpin asked, his tone remaining neutral. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Tch, I know your game. You're trying to get me to reveal some crime that I've done even though you don't have any idea what it is or even if I've done it," the Reaper bit back as he crossed his arms. "I'm not stupid enough to fall for that trick twice."

"...I take it the first time was with Jubei?" Ozpin asked, a small smile forming a he allowed his demeanor to relax. "You're not in trouble… I was actually wondering if you weren't open for a match."

"A match? What kind of a match?" Ragna questioned, keeping his tone neutral as Ozpin took out a small wooden box.

"A Chess one," Ozpin confirmed, only to notice Ragna growing uncomfortable. "You don't know the rules?"

"Far from it actually… someone my teacher was friends with forced me to learn how to play, and Jubei made me practice too," he admitted, still strangely uncomfortable at the idea. "But I mean... I'm getting called up here by a headmaster that holds a lot of power at the school I go to, he asks me for a round of Chess in private, and you're probably going to ask me some serious questions while we play with a friggin sunset to set the scene. It just seems a little... _cliché_?"

Ozpin paused as he was about to set board down, realizing that Ragna did make a strong point. It didn't hold him for long as he sent the student a smile. "If you'd prefer, I have been wanting to try that _**Grimm Hunter Junior**_ game." Ragna's cringe was impossible to miss. "I know it's normally meant for several players, but perhaps if we could get Port and Oobleck to join us we could have a fun round of that."

"Cliché Chess it is," Ragna muttered as he pulled up a chair to the other side of the desk. "Don't expect me to win."

"I expect an effort to do so at the very least," Ozpin told him as he started placing the pieces. "I hope you don't mind if I take the white side and gain the first move? The black side seems to suit your darker persona better." Ragna shrugged as Ozpin shot him a smirk, amused that Ragna didn't seem to care that he was poking fun at him. "Good, then let's begin the match."

Early on, it was clear that Ragna was outmatched in their game. No matter what move he made or how carefully he tried to think things through in advance Ozpin would completely blind side him and claim some of his vital pieces, including his Queen. By this point Ragna had only taken a few of his pieces and most of them were basic pawns.

"So it seems that the _Grimm's Day_ party was a success… for the most part," Ozpin told him as Ragna tried to figure out a method that would keep him from claiming one of his bishops. "A few of the teacher's noticed that some of the students showed up to classes the next day with hangovers."

"In my defense, I wasn't the guy that spiked the punch," Ragna told him as he instead elected to move his pawn to claim one of Ozpin's, only to have it captured by a knight.

"Check," Oz announced as Ragna was starting to consider giving up the match. "...I'd also heard that you left the party shortly into its run."

"Well when you get doused with alcohol spiked punch, it kinda kills your mood to dance," the Reaper defended. "That and… I had to take care of a friend of mine; they were sort of in a bad place."

"I see…" Ozpin said, not pressing for further details as Ragna tried to make a move that resulted him in losing his rook, but took Ozpin's knight and kept him out of check. "How have you been liking your new accommodations?"

"It's been nice… though _certain_ people are starting to insist that I start decorating that thing or they're going to do it for me," Ragna said as he looked over the pieces, trying to figure his next move and not seeing many options.

"Only because they seem to care about you," Ozpin noted as Ragna moved his bishop to claim a knight, only to be taken by Ozpin's queen. "Check."

' _Dammit, it feels like…'_ Ragna thought to himself as he tried to keep a cool head. He then moved his own knight into sacrifice range to keep him out of check. A bad move, but he was desperate. "...I've noticed."

"Speaking of relationships, how are your current standings with your team?" Ozpin asked as he claimed the knight. "You remember the room is a temporary fix?"

"Yeah, I know… I tried something right before the party with Tsubaki," he confirmed as he moved his pawn forward. "Hard to tell if it's worked… but I haven't gotten any dirty looks from her lately."

"Progress then," Ozpin decided as he moved his king between a line of pawns to clear a path for his rook. "Check. What of your standings with Azrael?"

"I'm trying to get something to work out between him that doesn't involve us destroying _Beacon_ ," Ragna admitted as he moved a pawn to protect his king and get taken by Ozpin's rook. "Damn… I get the feeling that it's going to involve a fight so…"

"I can try and give you what you need, but I ask that you be discreet. Check," Ozpin informed as he moved his rook and claimed Ragna's pawn. "You'll still have much work to do with the both of them, that's for certain. Though what I can't understand is why you and Jin Kisaragi seem so uncomfortable around Noel Ver-"

" _Checkmate_."

"...I beg your pardon?" Ozpin asked before he looked at the board and realized that Ragna was indeed correct. Using his last knight, Ragna had managed to take the rook that had been right next his king and placed it into range to Ozpin's headpiece and protected by his last remaining pawn. Ozpin's king was surrounded by his own pieces preventing him from moving back or to the side and if he moved it any direction forward, Ragna was primed to take it with two of his pawns that were lined up side by side two places away. Even if Ozpin claimed one of the pawns, Ragna's knight would go over whatever barrier Ozpin could set… effectively trapping him. "...And you made it clear that I shouldn't expect much from you."

"I wasn't lying, I couldn't be sure that would work…" Ragna muttered as he looked like he was about to break out in a nervous sweat. "And I didn't exactly create this on the fly either."

"Oh? Do tell," Ozpin requested as he analyzed the board and studied where he had gone wrong.

"Like I said earlier, my master made me play this game with him all the time," Ragna informed. "He said something about _learning to plan ahead, keeping your mind clear,_ the usual teacher mantra. No matter how much I practiced though, I could never come close to beating him." He glanced at the gears around Ozpin's office as he thought back. "But… looking back on some of our matches, I saw that there were a couple of moves that I made that made him pause for a moment. By the time I could learn how to use it though, he saw right through me and I couldn't try it on him."

"So you used it on me then; someone that hadn't seen any of your previous matches," Oz noted as he began picking the pieces up. "It's a risky strategy… I'd wager it would normally have a five percent chance to work at best."

"You're probably right," Ragna admitted before smirking. "With you though, I'd say it would be about twenty." Ozpin raised an eyebrow, unsure if the student had a point to make or if this was a form of mockery. "Playing against you was like playing against Jubei, like you both have so much experience and technique that I almost knew what to look out for… even if there wasn't a lot I could do about it."

"...Rather perceptive of you," Ozpin said before giving a small smile. "I suppose I'll have to play the gracious loser today. Now how to celebrate your victory?"

"You're kidding, I get a prize too?" the Reaper asked, his luck starting to turn hopeful. "So then… what do I win?"

"How about… your room?" Ozpin suggested, immediately killing Ragna's good mood.

"I didn't realize that's what we were playing for," he noted, trying not to seem too disappointed.

"We did have a few complaints about the _Grimm's Day_ party and its after effects, complaints that I'm now willing to overlook," the headmaster explained as Ragna sighed and made his way to his feet. "One last question… Are you planning on-?"

"Not anytime soon, but maybe this upcoming week," Ragna interrupted as he knew what Ozpin was going to ask. "Probably have to come up with an alibi or something for Ruby…"

"I could just explain you're on an extra credit assignment," Ozpin offered. "There is some truth to that…"

"It ain't helping my grades… but maybe," Ragna muttered as he turned to head out. "Later then."

"Later it is," Ozpin agreed as he waited until Ragna was gone before returning his attention to the chess board. ' _Seems that I can still get carried away, even with all of my experience…'_ He smirked softly. ' _I'd better start practicing again. After all, I can't very well let Jubei show me up…'_

 _Later -Student Hallways-_

' _H-Heavy!'_ Jaune thought to himself as he tried to make his way through the dormitory hallways carrying several packages and letters in his hands. ' _I know it's my turn to deliver the package overflow, but are there even more here than there usually are? I still have at least three trips left to go and these are the rooms close to the mailroom. I can barely see where I'm going!_ '

"Jaune, is that you?" came a familiar voice. Peaking his eye through the cracks between the packages, Jaune's eye found itself looking at Ruby Rose herself. "You alright?"

"...Not really," Jaune groaned as his arms began to shake. "I… I got something for you though…" He grunted as he tried to adjust his hold on the packages. "Top right pile… I think."

"Uh… okay?" Ruby said as she grabbed the letter. "Oh wow! It's a message from my uncle!"

"Yeah, glad you got it," Jaune said with a sigh, knowing that a single letter would hardly lighten his load. "Anyways I gotta… Huh, it's a lot lighter suddenly."

"Oh wow! A giant package from him too! I gotta show my sis!"

' _Package?_ ' Jaune thought before remembering that specific delivery. "Ruby, wait! That's not for you, its-!" His words fell on deaf ears as she used her _Speed Semblance_ to blast back to her room in sheer excitement. "Then again… maybe it'll work out and I'llAAAUUUUUUGGGHHH!"

Jaune finally fell to the floor as he lost his balance and his hold on the packages, getting crushed beneath the heavy weight of several of the parcels while landing square on his back. The blond student let out a defeated whimper at his fate.

"Are you alright?" Moving a few of the packages off of him and sitting up, he saw Pyrrha standing over him. Seeing her giving him a bright smile, Jaune couldn't help but blush at his current predicament. "Need some help?"

"...You have no idea," he groaned as he dusted himself off and started picking the packages off the floor, relieved that none of them were labeled 'fragile.'

 _Meanwhile -Team RWBY's Room-_

"So… you're painting them red this time," Yang noted as she turned the page in her magazine, checking out the new info of one of the celebrity _Hunter_ groups that she was following. Blake was sitting on her bed reading one of her romance books (which had a second cover for something a little less embarrassing) while Weiss was painting her fingernails.

"I ran out of white yesterday and I haven't had the chance to get more," Weiss said as she continued to paint, pausing to examine how it was coming out. "Besides, I think it's nice to try these small changes every now and again."

"Huh, something a little more subtle than seeing Ragna's jaw hit the floor when he got a good look of you in that dress?" Yang asked, leaving Weiss to shoot the blonde a small glare. "I'm just saying, you two seemed like you were having a lot of fun out on the dance floor… even looked like he might've kissed you after the dance." Silence.

' _...Weiss isn't denying it,'_ Blake thought to herself, having been absent from the dance for… reasons. Instead of reading her book, she decided to keep her ears (now lacking their ribbon) focused on the story right before her.

"Ragna was just doing that because everyone else around us happened to giving a small peck on the cheek or hand; it would've been rude to me if he wasn't the only one," Weiss said before looking suspiciously to Yang. "And are you _sure_ that punch bowl just _moved on its own_?"

' _Punch bowl?_ ' Blake thought to herself before remembering that night's events. ' _So that's why his hair looked like…'_ She shook her head. ' _He's not here, Blake… he's not here…'_

"I'm just telling you what I saw; Ruby was there too so you can ask her," Yang countered as she closed her magazine, not enjoying the accusation being thrown her way. "Besides, why would either of us throw punch on Ragna? We're not nearly that petty."

"...I figured," Weiss said as she continued painting her nails. "By the way, aren't the two of you going out tonight? Going back to that Fight Club you mentioned?"

"Yeah, but try to keep that a secret; it's sort of an _Underground_ Fight Club," Yang explained, earning a sigh from Weiss. "We're both careful and it's not like it's super sketchy; we've already done it before and won… and it's good money."

"Just try not to get Ragna in trouble; from what I've heard he's been on thin ice for months now… and it's just been getting thinner lately," Blake told her… before giving a soft smile. "Of course if he heard us say that…"

"He'd say something completely profane and try to tell us that it's nothing that he hasn't already dealt with a thousand times," Weiss finished with a sigh, trying to hide her small smirk.

"Yeah… that does sound exactly like him," Yang admitted. "Anyways I'll try and keep him out of-"

"WE GOT MAIL!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs as she kicked the door in, interrupting the three and causing all of them to jump. "Uncle Qrow finally wrote to us! Look! Look!"

"Ruby calm down!" Weiss ordered before looking at her nails, which thankfully hadn't been ruined yet despite unintentionally spreading some nail polish to her sheets. ' _Great, now I'll have to wash those later._ '

"So we got a letter and a package then?" Yang said with a smirk as she took the letter sent by their uncle from her giggling sister. Opening it, she began to read. "Let's see here…

 _To my two favorite Nieces,_

 _Sorry it's been so long since I've written to you both. I'm sort of on an important assignment at the moment and most of the towns out here don't even have a barebones mailing system. By the time you get this I'll probably be two or three towns away. So… there's that._

 _Anyways, I heard that the both of you got accepted in Beacon. Yang I knew was a sure thing, but for Ruby to get in so early was a real shock to the system, not that she hasn't earned it. I also heard that you're both on the same team, so make sure you look out for each other. Even if this is still school, I hear Ozpin won't shy away from some of the more intense lessons._

 _I'm almost certain I won't be back in time for your break, but give Tai my regards… poor bastard's probably lonely without either of you to keep him company. I'll try to write to you both a little sooner next time, but I can't promise anything. Yang, always keep an eye out for your sister and Team Leader, that's your first and most important job. Ruby, I know that being Team Lead is probably a lot of pressure for you, but I got faith that you can handle this. Both of you give 'em hell._

 _Looking forward to sharing stories,_

 _Your Uncle Qrow_

 _P.S. I also sent a package that should be arriving close to the same time you're getting this. It's addressed to a guy I know that's in school with you. Maybe you've heard of him; goes by the name Ragna. A hundred Platinum Lien says that he's made a name for himself as something of a standout troublemaker by now, even if he claims it ain't his fault. Do your best Uncle a solid and make sure that package gets to him._ "

"...So the package isn't to us?" Ruby asked as she looked at the large package's postage information and saw that while it was sent from Qrow, it was intended to be received by Ragna. "Aww…"

"But you know…" Yang began as she looked over the box with a gleam in her eyes. "There's only one thing that we can do with it now."

"Righhhhhhhhht," Ruby said with the same mischievous gleam in her own eyes as she looked at the box. "Just _one_ thing…"

"This can't end well," Blake and Weiss said in deadpanned unison.

 _Ragna's Room_

"It was a first attempt at pruning it, but how's it looking?" Ragna asked as he showed Ren the Bonsai tree resting on his desk.

"You haven't changed much, but I like the style," Ren told him as he looked over the small tree. "You've rounded out most the the edges I've made rather nicely, but also added sharper tips to a few of the branches. Have you been watering it?"

"Yeah, like the book told me," the Reaper told him as he began to put his equipment away. "So, how was the rest of the dance after my… mishap?"

"Parts of it were good… other parts not so much," Ren admitted as he thought back to those events. "A couple of guys tried hitting on Nora while they were plastered… it didn't end well."

"Ouch," Ragna responded simply, wondering they had been the student's he'd heard had been sent to the infirmary. "Heard she and Azrael tore through the buffet."

"You heard right, all I managed to get was a single sandwich cut," Ren told him before giving a small smile. "If I didn't know better though, I'd say your brother might've been having fun."

"He and Tsubaki dance?" the Reaper questioned to which Ren nodded. "Good… hopefully that made my life a little easier."

"You can only hope," Ren told him before there was a hard knock on the door.

" _Package delivery~!_ " came Ruby's sing song voice outside his doorway. The two gave each other a confused glance before Ragna made his way forward and opened his door. Waiting for Ragna outside was Ruby and her sister with beaming smiles on their faces as they held the package sent to him with Weiss and Blake stood off to the side, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed that all the two had done was take the package straight to the Reaper.

"...Something tells me your life wouldn't stay easy for long anyways," Ren told Ragna, giving his classmate a small smirk of understanding.

"Maybe not, but this is still preferable," Ragna told his friend as Ren left his room, feeling that things were about to go crazy. "I thought Jaune was on mail call today."

"Yeah, but I sort of got your mail by mistake," she admitted as she brought the large package in at next to no invitation, followed by the rest of her team. Ruby and Yang glaced around as they were seeing his new accommodations for the first time while Blake tried not to look at the spot were she'd vomited a few nights ago.

"You got a plant," Weiss noted at the Bonsai as she had been somewhat obsessed in helping Ragna decorate his room a while time ago. True the tree wasn't much of an addition, but it was enough to tell her that he was trying. "It looks nice."

"...You did your nails," Ragna commented as he saw Weiss's small but noticeable change. "Likewise." This wasn't nearly enough to get her to blush, but it did cause her to give a smile as her efforts weren't in vain.

"You guys see a punch bowl anywhere?" Yang questioned as she glanced around Ragna's room.

"YANG!" Weiss and Ruby screamed in unison.

"C'mon, I'm kidding…" Yang told them both with a mischievous smile as Ragna and Blake rolled their eyes. "Besides, I can't have him dyed red; it might make him look sickly."

"Or at least sunburnt," Ragna said, trying to keep Blake from getting uncomfortable. "It's… from Qrow?"

"Why is that such a big surprise? You said you two knew each other," Ruby reminded. "Besides, he sent us a letter too."

"I just… never thought he'd ever send me anything; figured if anything he'd send stuff to..." he stopped himself before he said something to completely discredit Ruby's uncle. "Girls he… _knew_." Everyone except for Yang and Ruby were confused, but those two just nodded their heads in agreement. "Well… thanks, I guess."

"Aw, c'mon… Don't just stand there, open it up!" Yang told him leaving Ragna's face to blanch. "You think we all came here just to give it to you? We want a peek at what our uncle's sending your way!"

' _...If Qrow sent me_ _ **those**_ _, I'm dead,'_ Ragna realized as he looked over the long package. ' _He could put a lot of those in this thing…'_ Glancing around at the curious faces and realizing he didn't have a choice. Opening it up, he saw that it was filled to the brim with packing peanuts. Reaching inside, he shifted through the box for a moment before grabbing a hold of something.. Bracing himself, he brought out-

"Awesome! A new sword!" Ruby said with sparkles in her eyes.

Indeed it was; a longsword currently kept inside a rounded midnight black sheath. The sheath wasn't exceptionally interesting, though it did have a metal clip on one side that would allow Ragna to easily keep it attached to one of his belts. The sword's handle was held in a dark stained leather, wrapped around in a diagonal pattern which extended from its small metal pommel down to a metal covering which was connected to a grey metal plated hilt. A small gun trigger was placed on the metal part covering the bottom part of the of the handle (oddly perpendicular to the hilt), a feature of which made Ruby squeal in excitement as she was crazy about weapons like these. Her excitement only grew as Ragna unsheathed the new equipment piece. While the metal itself was a plain lighter material, the fact that the blade was made of several smaller metal pieces placed close together let Ruby know that it likely held a transformational property.

"Soooo…. COOOOOLLLL!" Ruby said like a crazed fangirl as she dashed around the weapon getting a good look at it from every angle.

' _He totally should have sent this to his Niece,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he sheathed the sword. Looking back in the package that the sword had come inside, he noticed that there was a small letter that came with it as well.

"Looks like Qrow wrote to you," Yang noted. "Mind if we hear what he has to say?"

' _At least she's asking this time,'_ Ragna noted as he handed the sword to Ruby, who was only too eager to take it as she tried to examine any part of it she could. With her occupied, Ragna was free to open the letter and start reading it out loud.

" _To Ragna,_

 _Heya kid, hopefully this message gets to you before… you get expelled..."_

He gave a small growl at Qrow's opening address while everyone in the room gave each other worried glances.

" _Knowing you, if you haven't been thrown out of Beacon yet you've probably been skating on thin ice since you've gotten there. I got word that you somehow managed to pass your entrance exam, but the real trouble's going to be keeping you there."_

"Someone's of little faith," Blake noted as the tone of Qrow's message was far different than that of the one addressed to Ruby and Yang.

" _Back to your gift, I was heading through the market for this job I was on when I saw smithy selling this thing for cheap. Seeing it got me to remember that the Aramasa doesn't have a 'gun' function and I figure even if you like to keep you fights up close and personal, you should have a little range to keep you safe if you even run into trouble. While it didn't exactly come with a 'how to' manual, the smith assured me it's easy enough to figure out so I'll leave that part to you. Its design might seem pretty basic, but it's supposedly made of high quality steel.I know you're used to swinging something around with a lot more weight on it, but put this thing to good work for me, would you?_

 _The owner called this thing_ _ **Clarent**_ _and made a stern point that I tell you to continue to call it such. Personally I don't care, but if you gotta call the sword something, you might as well._

 _I'll say hey to you at Beacon next chance I get, just don't get your ass kicked out by then._

 _Best Regards,_

 _Qrow Branwen"_

"Huh," Yang added helpfully as Ragna put down the letter. "So are you two friends? Do you have score to settle? What going on?"

"Qrow's… Qrow. Don't ask me, I don't exactly get it either," Ragna said simply, folding the letter back into its envelope and tossing it off to the side. "Ruby, can I have my sword back?"

"Shouldn't we put this thing through a test run though?" she eagerly suggested. "What good is it going to do if you're not used to the new weapon before you get into a fight with it? I don't think I've ever seen you use a gun before."

"Don't you just point and shoot?" the Reaper questioned, leaving Ruby to roll her eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll get some practice in with this thing."

"We got a some time before our match later; you could always just go now," Yang offered. Ragna shot her a glare before turning to Ruby… who was giving the big pleading eyes look.

"...Guess I can't say no when you put it like that," Ragna muttered, causing Ruby to make the biggest smile she possibly could and everyone else made a note to what they could use for leverage in the future. "Fine, but just until we grab din-"

"I'll go set up the practice room!" Ruby said as she didn't even give Ragna a chance to finish, using her speed semblance to blast off and leaving Ragna's new weapon spiraling in the air before him. Grabbing it out of midair, he placed the blade on one of his belts, just below the handle for his regular sword.

"Said it before and I'll say it again; she moves quick," Ragna muttered before giving a smirk and turning to the other girls. "Any of you going to join us?"

"With Ruby's obsession? We'd just in the way," Blake told him with a knowing smile. "I'll see you at dinner then."

"Try to bear it, you know as well as I do how energetic she can be," Weiss began.

"But she means well, and one of your weapons means the world to her," Yang finished before hitting Ragna on the arm. "Just don't let her tire you out too badly, I wouldn't want you to be too worn out before our match."

"I'll give them both a damn good fight," Ragna promised, continuing to softly smile as the girls left his room… once they were gone though, his expression turned almost _deathly_ serious as he went to the letter that Qrow had sent. Reaching inside his jacket he brought out a small black cigarette lighter that used dust as its main form of fuel. The truth was Ragna wouldn't need it to start a fire (and he had no intention to start smoking), but there were times it made his life easier. Lighting the small device, he placed it under the letter he'd gotten and began to careful heat the paper. "Alright you bastard... what've you really got to say?"

Certain parts of the paper began to darken as it revealed two words… two rather enigmatic words for the Reaper's eyes only.

 _Still looking_

Gritting his teeth, Ragna did… something to letter and caused it to turn to an ash like material in his hand, only it was far more shadowy and it seemed to disappear completely when it hit his floor. Switching the lighter off, he placed the small device into one of his jacket's inner pockets for safekeeping. He was about to head after Ruby, but noticed something peeking out of the packaging he'd received. Wondering if this could hold a further clue what Qrow was really up to, he brought the small object out and-

' _You can't be… He can't be this much of a… Is he…'_ "God…" Ragna began through his wince. What he felt was a mix of ire, regret, shock… and _unbridled rage_. " _ **DAMMIT QROW!"**_

 _Beacon Hallways_

"Hmm… seems suspiciously quiet tonight," Goodwitch thought to herself as she walked through the hallways whilst reading her scroll. The mail had been deliver by Jaune (even if he had needed help), the students that had earned their detentions had been put to work and would be finishing their jobs soon, and she hadn't heard anything out of the usual offender… though she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen Ozpin so focused on that dusty old chess board. He hadn't informed her of the details of said match, but it was quite clear Ragna had done something to shake the Headmaster.

"Hey Goodwitch," came Ragna's call from behind her. Goodwitch gave a sigh at his usual crass attitude as Ragna approached… looking oddly uncomfortable about something. He was glancing around the hallway, almost as if to make sure that no one was here to see them and he was obviously hiding something in his jacket's folds. She also saw a second weapon on his side and made a mental note to send Ragna the documents so he could register it at the academy.

"What do you need?" she demanded as she kept eyeing whatever it was he was hiding in his jacket. True she could easily use her semblance to take said item out and expose it, but she decided that she would give Ragna a chance to explain himself first.

"You… you know Qrow… right?" he asked, seeming rather hopeful that she did. "I mean… you know the kind of person that he is?"

"That might be accurate," she said patiently.

"And you saw that he sent me mail earlier, right?" Ragna followed up, yet again glancing around nervously.

"I didn't go through the mail personally, but go on," she instructed.

"So…" he took in a deep breath. "So when I tell you that he sent me this _as a prank_ , you know that I'm _trying_ not get into deeper shi- trouble by bringing this to you the first chance that I got."

"Brought in… what exactly?" Goodwitch asked before Ragna finally revealed the object he had been hiding. Her expression was hard to describe as she saw the adult magazine that Qrow had sent him. It was titled _Naughty Maid Weekly_ and had every word written in flowery pink cursive. The girl on the front cover was looking straight up at the camera with bright blue eyes, blinding blonde hair, and showing off plenty of her cleavage which wasn't hard in her skimpy maid's uniform. The text right beside her said ' _Please forgive me… Master…'_

"I see…" Goodwitch commented as she hard a difficult time tearing her eyes from the magazine's cover.

"Do me a favor and don't bring this up with anyone else, yeah?" a clearly embarrassed Ragna begged. "My reputation's already been going downhill fast lately and this might just be the final nail in the coffin."

"...I will keep quiet about this," she promised as she took the magazine from him. "Though I suppose I'll have to trust you not to buy any of these on your own."

"Are you kidding me? With how many problems this joke alone is going to cause me? This might come as a shock to you teachers, but I ain't stupid," Ragna told her before grumbling and walking off in a frustrated huff. Goodwitch rolled her eyes at his attitude, before eyeing the magazine she'd been given.

' _What do people see in these things anyway?'_ Goodwitch thought to herself… as curiosity started to get the better of her. Glancing around as Ragna had just a few moments earlier, she confirmed that she was still alone in this hallways. Opening the cover to the center section, she saw the revealing pictures. ' _Scandalous, tasteless, and perverted; exactly what I was expecting,'_ she concluded as she harshly critiqued the centerfold… though such thoughts didn't stop her from turning the page.

 _Later -Practice Room-_

"What took you so long!? We've got to put that thing to work if we're going to learn the as much as we can about it!" a hyper Ruby Rose demanded as Ragna opened the door to the training room, not even giving him time to answer or walk over as she grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him over to the dummy that she'd set up.

' _The training room is empty on a friday night?'_ Ragna thought to himself as he glanced around. ' _Then again, Ruby might've just scared everyone short of Azrael away before I got here.'_ He then directed his attention to the training dummy in front of him. "So… now what?"

"Try to cut it, let's start by seeing how good of an edge with weapon is; it's almost like christening a new weapon in a way!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Well if you think it's that serious..." Ragna began before unsheathing the blade from his side. At first Ruby thought that he was holding the blade backhanded like he usually did for his weaponry, only to have Ragna offer her the hilt. "You should do it."

"M-me?" Ruby asked, even though it was clear that she had said that Ragna should make the first cut, it was even more clear that she REALLY REALLY wanted to take a swing with the new blade. "Come on… Qrow sent the weapon to _you_."

"Yeah, but he's your Uncle, doubt that he'd mind," Ragna said, remembering that he needed to kick the fellow sword-scythe user's ass the next chance he got. "Come on, you're a better gauge on how well this works anyways: I'd be able to cut that with just about anything."

" _Any_ thing?" Ruby asked, almost playfully. "What about a wooden practice sword?"

"...Mmm..."

 _Flashback_

"You want me…" a young twelve year old Ragna began. "To cut that…" he pointed to a comically large boulder about twelve times his size. "With… _a stick_."

"Of course not kid," Jubei said with a chuckle. "What do you think I am, crazy?"

"Well you have been scaring me lately," he muttered before looking at the weapon. "So-"

"I gave you a _bokken_ not a stick; you'll cut the rock with that," the cat informed. Now Ragna _knew_ his teacher was insane. "Come 'n, like this is the toughest thing I've ever had you do. Hell, last week you killed your first _Beowolf_ like a reckless idiot."

"You mean the _Beowolf_ that was chasing me after YOU DOUSED ME IN BARBECUE SAUCE!?" Ragna shouted at the teacher. "This is the outlands! Where the hell did you even get all of that sauce!?"

"Old recipe, you'd be surprised what you can make off of nature," Jubei told him. "So are you going to start swinging at that thing or are you just going to yell at me?"

"Of course I'm going to yell at you! What am I supposed to do with this thing!?" Ragna shouted as he held up the old and chipped practice blade.

"Swing like your life depends on if, because until you can make a clean cut and cleave that thing in half…" an almost sadistic shine appeared in Jubei's eye. "You ain't eating." As if on cue, a low growl sounded from Ragna's starving stomach. The youth was clearly terrified at the idea and turned to face the rock with his practice sword. "...How's that fer motivation kid?"

 _ **(Author's Note: ...Is now a bad time to tell you that I've been watching Gintama on VRV? Gintoki and Adult Ragna share Tomokazu Sugita as their Japanese VA's for those of you that don't know)**_

 _Back to the Present_

' _Thanks to that little event I learned how to split boulders in half with a shoddy practice sword,'_ Ragna thought as he remembered back to his early days of training. ' _...And that it's possible for me to go almost two weeks without food. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.'_

"...Ragna? Hellooooooo? Remnant to Ragnaaaaaaa," Ruby said as she leaned rather close to the Reaper as he emerged from his thoughts. "What's got you acting up all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing," Ragna muttered as he again held the sword out. "Go ahead and do the honors for us, would ya?"

"Well if you insist…" Ruby began as she took the sword winded up a large slash. "HA!" Even if Ruby was more used to using a scythe, she still managed to make a harsh cut deep into the training dummy. "Wow! That's pretty sharp! Nice edge to it!" She then handed the sword back to Ragna. "No then… how do you think we're supposed to use the _Gun_ function on this thing; what gets the bullets firing?"

"I dunno… pull the trigger maybe?" Ragna tried as he pulled on the awkwardly placed trigger. It didn't seem like it was jammed, but it wouldn't move in the slightest. "That ain't it… what a weird ass place for a trigger anyways."

"Maybe that's part of the point," Ruby thought to herself as she looked at the trigger. "It's on its own piece of metal, maybe…" Grabbing the trigger, she found that she could twist the metal ring it was on clockwise. Moving it to where it lined up with the sword's hilt, the blade split apart revealing a long metal rifle barrel in the center. "Awesome! So now we know how that works!"

' _Kind of a wierd setup, but okay,'_ Ragna thought to himself before he pointed in at the dummy and pulled the trigger. The time the trigger moved like it should have, but the gun only gave a small clicking sound. "...Tch, looks like Qrow wasn't willing to pay for a _loaded_ weapon."

"Like that's a problem, we've got plenty of practice rounds that we can use!" Ruby told him as she looked over the sword's newer form. "The real problem is knowing what type of rounds this thing uses and how we're supposed to load them into place. There's a slotted opening on the barrel close to the base, but since it's snapped shut I'm guessing that's where the casing comes out once the bullet's been fired… the question is where they keep the bullets before that."

Putting his ear close the the gun-sword, Ragna pulled the trigger a couple more times, only to have the gun sound off useless clicks… only his sense weren't exactly _average_. "It's weird, but it sounds like there's some sound coming from the hilt…" His eyes immediately going to the sword's metal pommel, he pulled at the small piece at the edge of his hilt. It took a small twist, but the part came out and was attached to a small linear cartridge.

"Huh, so it's a ten shot weapon then," Ruby observed as she looked it over before heading to the supply side of the practice room and searching for the proper ammunition. "This one I think… standard grade practice rounds; these go into almost every weapon with a gun function." Placing one bullets into the open top end, the projectile snapped into place. Placing a second one on top of that forced the first bullet into a lower chamber. Quickly, Ruby fully loaded the weapon. Placing the piece back inside the sword, there was an obvious snap that signaled that a bullet had been loaded into the sword's chamber.

"Alright Qrow, what kinda fire power are you thinking?" Ragna muttered as he pointed at the dummy target and quickly pulled _Clarent's_ trigger. The sheer volume and recoil of the blast made it clear that this was no way utilizable for stealth kills nor rapid fire; these shots needed to be _intentional_ … on the plus side, there was this thing's raw destructive power. "...Correct me if I'm wrong…"

"But you're not supposed to be able to completely blast through the training dummies with _training bullets?_ " Ruby asked as she looked through the perfect hole that had been shot through the target… and the one set up behind it. "How's your arm from the recoil?"

"Sorta shaken, but I'll be fine," Ragna muttered as he released his hold on the trigger, sending the first bullet's casing out of the slot and snapping the next round into place. Feeling satisfied with today's discoveries, he twisted the trigger to compact his weapon into its blade form and sheathed his new sword. "Thanks for helping me figure this thing out Ruby, if there's something I can do to return the favor…"

"Don't be silly, I'm always happy to help, especially if it involves helping out with one of your weapons!" she old him simply as an idea formed in her mind… one which caused her to blush slightly. "A-actually, there was something that I was kind curious about."

"O...kay?" Ragna repeated, wondering what was making this such a big deal for his best friend. "What is this ab-?"

"It's really serious!" she yelled, surprising the Reaper as she interrupted him and her blushing only seemed to grow. "Like probably one of the most important things I can ask you!" Surprisingly, that was when she averted her gaze. "You… you can't be angry with me after I do it… p-promise?"

"A-After you do it?" Ragna asked, only now noticing that Ruby was pretty damn close to his face. ' _Sh-she can't mean… I-idiot! There's no way she would possibly ask for something like... that… right?'_ "I… I-I mean I can never exactly get _angry_ at you for anything…" he said trying to keep his tone neutral and failing horridly. "What… what was it that you needed?"

"Well… I…" she began before forcing herself to turn back to Ragna, his deep red and green eyes meeting her flawless silver ones. Ruby eye's started growing bigger… and that's when Ragna knew he had no damn way he could possibly turn her down.

 _-The Cafeteria-_

"...Are those two ever going to get here? We've been waiting for them almost an hour now," Weiss rightfully (in her eyes) complained as she crossed her arms while sitting at a mess hall table. "It's nearly time for the cafeteria to close and they still haven't gotten here!"

"...And their food's already cold," Blake noted as she looked at the lukewarm potatoes and meatloaf that was waiting for the two.

"Just have some patience, I sort of warned you that Ruby was going to go crazy over this," Yang reminded with a sigh. "She was already crazy about Ragna's first sword and now that he doesn't have any choice but to show her his second weapon she's going to try and take full advantage of this."

"Oh, are you really sure it's the weapons she's interested in darlings?" came the flowery tones of one Amane Nishiki, playing with one of his ribbons as he sat at the table across from the three… his team oddly absent.

"Helloooooo? This is Ruby we're talking about about; of course it's the weapons," Yang muttered as she rolled her eyes. "What else is there for Ruby to be interested in?"

"What else indeed?" Amane answered with another question as he slowly sipped his tea, that playful smile never leaving his face.

"Look if you have something to say about my sister, say it," Yang began as she rose to her feet. As per expected of an older sibling, she was very protective when it came to Ruby and didn't like Amane making accusations.

"Oh please my dear, calm yourself," Amane said, his tone still playful but laced with apology. "I'm could never imply anything scandalous about sweet Ruby… only that she might soon have less interest in Ragna's weaponry compared to the man himself."

' _He… he's really saying that…'_ Blake thought to herself as she realized what Amane was getting at. ' _Well, I mean… it's not exactly the worst thing to be-'_

"Are you blind? Of course it's like that; Ragna's her best friend," Weiss told him, still a little cross at the time he'd forced her into dancing with the Reaper (she only wants to do that willingly).

"Best friend? ...So you'd say that Ruby is the closest to Ragna then? Compared to all of you?" Amane asked, obviously having _far_ too much fun to stop now.

"Well, I mean…" Weiss began, unable to make eye contact as she distractingly played with her hair, the fact that she'd _had_ almost been kissed by the Reaper unable to leave her mind.

"If you mean it like… _that…_ " Yang continued, also not making contact with the dancer as she remembered all of the times the two had spent poking fun at the others expense, sparring with each other, and in general going along with her antics.

"..." Blake said nothing, only remembering what had happened during the _Grimm's Day Festival_ and how Ragna had cared for her.

"It's nothing darlings, I assure you I was purely curious," Amane said with a joyful laugh. "I'm sure there's certainly nothing going on between the two that would cause any alarm here."

"O-Of course not!" Yang denied, her face growing flushed. "Like there's any way-!"

"Hey guys!" came Ruby's cheery voice.

Turning her attention to her sister and Ragna who had just entered the mess hall, Yang's words died in her mouth. One look… It took _one look_ to know exactly what had clearly happened between the two of them. Weiss and Blake caught on and could only stare at the pair before them while Amane was failing horribly to contain his own snickering at the events unfolding.

' _Ruby… went there…'_ Weiss thought as she stared horrified at her partner.

' _I can't believe I'm actually seeing something like this…'_ Blake herself thought as her blush only seemed to deepen several shades.

' _Oh my god…'_ Yang thought, never thinking her sister was capable of such a thing. ' _They really… They really…'_

...

...

...

" _ **BWAHAHAHAHAHA! ENTER: RUBY THE BLOODEDGE!"**_

...Much as the statement implied, Ruby was wearing Ragna prized jacket which would have proven to be several sizes too big even without the giant sword on the back and _Clarent_ sheathed at her side. Her bellowing voice had gotten the attention of everyone in the cafeteria who could only stare at Ruby in a strange sense of awe. Ragna himself was standing behind her in only his black hakama set, slinging _Crescent Rose_ over his shoulder in one hand while harshly facepalming into the other and muttering something about _falling for the eyes_.

"You… actually got him to give up his coat?" Weiss said as she looked at Ruby almost in a sense of awe.

"Yep! Hence the name!" Ruby continued before scowling in a very Ragna-like way (somehow) and moodily crossing her arms. "What a pain in the… butt..."

"Stop it… please…" Ragna begged, dying at such a sight. By now Amane had given up containing his jolly laughter.

"Ruby, I think that's enough…" Weiss told her Team leader with a disappointed sigh. Ruby tried the big eyed technique on Weiss, but she wasn't as big of a sucker for that as Ragna. Sighing, the young scythe user took off the jacket and handed it to Weiss. Ragna gave a sigh of relief and was about to take it back from the Schnee heir… only to see _the smile_.

"Oh god…"

"You had his posture all wrong," Weiss said as she stuffed her own arms into the sleeves, showing that she wasn't much of a better fit than Ruby. Ragna watched on with terror as she adopted his familiar slouch and gruff complexion. "Quit teaching Yang about blackmail…"

"No…" Ragna painfully hissed through his front teeth before Weiss threw off the jacket to Blake as he tried to reclaim it. Ragna pleaded with the cat Fanus with the biggest eyes he could manage… much like a inferior Pokemon matchup, it wasn't very effective as she too tried his jacket on.

"It's… roomier than I would've thought," she decided as she adjusted her sleeves, even placing her hand on _Aramasa's_ hilt like Ragna would. Acting like she was about to draw the massive blade, she went into his signature fighting stance.

"Please give it back," Ragna begged before it went to Yang. Even if she could… _fill_ _it out_ the most, the jacket would still prove too big on her compared to Ragna, though not by too much. She took a moment to consider what to say, but smiled as she came to her decision.

" _ **CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES BITCHES!"**_ she declared, a little louder than she needed to.

"Hey! I only did that bit ONCE!" Ragna shouted at her, his face growing crimson at the situation before him. Already some of the other students were whispering amongst themselves and it even looked like a few were coming forward to try it on for themselves… The _**DEATH**_ glare he sent their way halted such efforts. "Give it back… NOW."

"Come on, you said you can't ever get angry at me, right?" Ruby asked with a girlish giggle.

"YOU'RE REALLY PUSHING THAT RUBY! ALL OF YOU ARE!" he shouted as Yang finally offered his coat back to him, grabbing it back and throwing it on as fast as his dignity could allow him.

' _Perhaps I don't have push things any further at the moment,'_ Amane considered through his continued laughing as Ragna and Ruby slowly made their way towards their table, Ragna head slumped forward in defeat and Ruby holding onto his arm playfully. ' _After all, I doubt things will be going stale between them anytime soon...'_

 **Author's Note: STICK AROUND FOR A REVEAL AFTERWARDS AND AN ADRESSION DURING**

 **...Damn my sickness. Thanks to that this story had to go through several rewrites and I had trouble deciding what I should be setting up for. Anyways, this update.**

 **Now I know that I said I'd be holding off on this chapter until the end of Season 6, but it doesn't look like there's anything especially big that could reasonably be revealed that Season that could ruin this story's events (in fact, some of what's been revealed actually lines up with a few ideas that I had). I also got a request from EpicLinkSam, so there's that excuse… not throwing him under the bus or anything.**

 **IMPORTANT: Before I get to the reviews, I want to adjust an elephant in the room that I've been asked about several times… the Ragna/Ruby DBX. I was actually… fine with the results. Sure it was a pain to see Ragna lose AGAIN in something Screwattack related and it essentially boiled down to a RWBY Season 6 trailer, but I never really took what those guys say all that seriously to begin with and DBX is specifically no research (also a couple of headcannons made by the fans were really fun to read).**

 **So please don't have THAT be the subject of your reviews. Now then…**

 _Dcraus_ : Sorry, not sure what you were trying to say.

 _Vanitas50_ : No, no, I've just been… BUSY.

 _Guest (1)_ : That's… kinda a lot of BlazBlue characters in a nutshell.

 _The Unplanner:_ Kinda poked fun at you in this chapter with the age comment, but just a bit of fun.

 _Wlyman2009_ : Didn't last that long.

 _Guest (2)_ : That… or she's just getting back at Ragna for his age comments.

 _Silversean24_ : I'm trying to have the romance in this be a slow progression for a number of reasons. As you've seen is this chapter its becoming more considered… but still not official.

 _Lownag_ : The world may never know…

 _Star's Keyblade4114_ : Thank you.

 _Guest (3)_ : Visions of Adam is steadily becoming a thing in Season 6… also you misspelled Kagura as Ragna.

 _VirusChris_ : Always looking forward to your long reviews and always a pleasure.

 _RedBurningDragon_ : Thanks for that.

 _Guest (4)_ : At the moment, you guess is as good as mine.

 _WideBrimmedHat_ : ...Okay…

 _Yungsun_ : Yeah, I thought that they wouldn't work out great at first, but hey… opposites attract.

 _Airnaruto45_ : Hazama actually, but close.

 _ **Here's just a little something to keep you interested! Until next time! Ciao!**_

"I'm really sorry," Jaune said, making a deep 90 degree bow as he held his blond head in shame. Raising his head he looked at the two girls standing before him. "I must've lost it earlier when I took a bad fall in the hallways. If… if there was anything broken in there, I promise that I'll replace it myself."

"It's a just a letter," Tsubaki Yayoi told him calmly, her smile and hair color not making her unlike his own partner… though Jaune knew not to bring up Ragna if he wanted to keep it that way. "Besides you're here now to correct your mistake, aren't you?"

"That's… what I try to do?" he told her, still scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry, but I gotta get going to training. Maybe I'll-"

"You want MY help?" came the threatening voice of the room's third occupant. Even though he couldn't see its owner, just hearing that tone caused Jaune to instantly stiffen.

"Azrael, don't bully him," Noel scolded her partner. Now it was the other blonde's turn to give an apologetic bow. "Sorry for his behavior, he doesn't mean anything by it."

"The hell I don't," the Mad Dog muttered from his bed. "I want to see how my punches would do against that guard of-"

"Huh? What's that?" Jaune suddenly interrupted. "Sorry! Pyrrha's calling for me! Bye!" ...Yet another individual who might've shown some potential for a speed semblance user.

"You could've been nicer," Noel sighed with disappoint at her partner lying boredly on his bed with his eyes closed and his hands behind his hand as Tsubaki closed the door to their team room.

"Like it's my fault that I've got so much power that everyone slinks off with their tail between their legs," Azrael grumbed.

"With the way you wield said power, it most certainly is your fault," Tsubaki scolded. "As a famous philosopher once said, _the measure of a Hunter is what they choose to do with power._ "

"Sounds like a plea from weaklings," Azrael muttered, getting Tsubaki's scowl to tighten at him. Finally opening a red eye, he glanced at the letter she was holding. "Who's it from?"

"A friend of ours from _Flare Academy_ ," Noel explained. "We were really close during out time there, but unfortunately she got transferred to _Haven_ so it's been kind of hard to keep in touch."

"I see…" Azrael began as he thought the information over. "They tough?"

"Does that have to be the _first thing_ you ask?" Tsubaki once again reprimanded as she opened the letter and she began reading it with Noel.

"It can also be the _last thing_ I ask," Azrael told them moodily, wondering if he would get the chance to test the fighting ability of anyone worthwhile for himself. There were plenty of tough people around the school grounds and if he didn't get a proper fight in soon he was going to go crazy. Such moody behair was soon interrupted as Noel gave a scream. "Hmm?"

"This is great news!" she cheered with happy tears in her eyes, giving a Tsubaki a happy hug which the surprised the redhead as she tried to return the embrace. "MAKOTO AND MAI ARE COMING TO BEACON!"

"...Good for… you?" Azrael could only answer as Noel began throwing out suggestions and questions to Tsubaki about their friend's visit well over the speed limit. ' _I'm mean she's happy, but… is she going a little overboard here?'_


	14. Night Hunt

_**Crimson XIV: Night Hunt**_

Somewhere in the outlands, night has long since set over the thick forests and draped the land in darkness. There was a strong wind blowing through the air, pushing the thick clouds overhead and bending the creaking tree branches. Such a condition would be enough to keep most creatures in their boroughs for the night… which was to say nothing of the _true_ predators of the forest.

Wicked snapping was heard throughout the undergrowth, followed by heavy bestial breathing as a large bipedal monster surged forward, tree branches bending from just the sheer force of its run. This creature was a _Beowolf_ , a large bestial _Grimm_ that was known for viciously tearing its victims apart with its claws and fangs. Depending on how powerful the creature had become, they could grow as big as twelve feet tall like this creature. These were considered _Alpha_ class which was something of a misnomer as they didn't always travels in packs… this one was seen as a lone wolf.

As it tore through the woods, it felt its target up ahead giving off a nearly unprecedented level of negativity. Leaping into the air as it emerged from the undergrowth to a large clear its thick black fur and its deathly white mask reflected the moonlight. It spotted its target with its eyes, roaring as it lunged down with its maw ready to tears into its victim's flesh. It couldn't even touch said target as a blade screamed clean through air, carving the creature in half and forcing it to return to darkness.

"Here we go."

Around the clearing, several similar monsters burst from the bushes or leapt from atop the trees landing in large circle around the individual. Not all of these were _Beowolfs_ ; there were more than a few large and spiny _Ursa_ type _Grimm_ , a even a few of the rolling _Boarbatusks_. With these creatures of the night of hunched over and snarling viciously it was like a scene out of a nightmare… but if anything they seemed to be minding their distance from the man in the center.

Losing what little patience he had left, the man at the center decided he wouldn't give them the choice. Closing both of his mismatched eyes, he let his mind drift back that day; that dark and horrid day where he'd lost everything.

' _Come on kid! Quit your crying and put on a brave face for us! Say something brave now why don't you!? SEE HOW FAR IT GETS YA! EHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!'_

A dark aura fell over the man, covering his red coat in darkness. Now the _Grimm_ had no choice; just being close to this level of negativity was a buffet for them. Hollow screams and vicious roars were heard around the clearing as the creatures barrelled forward towards the man. One of the _Boarbatusks_ made it to him first, coming dangerously close to crushing him beneath its rolling bulk. A single sword swing stopped that effort as the creature was vertically cleaved in half. As the monster dissolved into darkness, the young warrior spun in a deadly arc with his sword, cleaving through several monsters and returning them to darkness.

From a distance, a mighty _Ursa_ drove its sharp claws into the ground before throwing large chunks of earth at the target in an attempt to bury him alive. This proved to be in vain as the young man leaped into the air, his shadow outlined in the light of the broken moon. Raising his sword high above his head, its handle extended and its blade twisted around to form a deadly sickle. As it did so, a menacing blade of dark energy extended from the other side, effectively forming a dual ended scythe. Roaring, he swung the blade down with deadly malice and eliminated an entire section of the _Grimm_. Swinging the Reaper's weapon behind him, he fired off a wave of the strange dark energy that viciously tore through every _Grimm_ it came into contact with. Slashing his weapon in front of him, he tore through seven of the dark beasts in an instant.

While keeping a solid hold on his scythe with his right hand, he used his left hand to take out a longsword. Snapping the trigger into its correct place and caused it to reveal its gun function. Pulling the trigger, he made a single powerful shot at another rolling _Boarbatusk_. The excessive shot was more than enough to tear through the _Grimm's_ armor and peice its body through, returning the beast to the shadows. The warrior fired off another three shots, the _Grimm_ falling to the floor like his used bullet cartridges. Swinging the weapon to its longsword base, he gave a hefty slash upward and toar through a _Beowolf._ Rather heavy blow and having so much power with a lighter weapon than he was used to nearly sent him off balance. Gritting his teeth, he sheathed his sword as the remaining _Grimm_ charged forward. Placing both of his hands on his scythe, he roared as he rushed forward giving a series of erratic swings as he continued to cleave through the darkness until he alone stood.

Ragna said nothing as he glanced around the clearing, waiting for the possibility of another wave _Grimm_ to charge in from the undergrowth. A few minutes passed with no sign of the creatures, in fact the peaceful sounds of forest creatures returned all but confirming their absence. Sighing, he let his energy fade from the scythe and let it quickly shift back into its base sword form. Placing the weapon on his belt, he prepared himself to move on.

A short shrill ring broke through the tranquil sounds of the woods. Knowing full well it was coming from his scroll, Ragna reached inside his pocket and put the device up to his ear as you would a common cell phone.

"Yeah?" he said bluntly to whoever was on the other end.

"Burning the midnight oil are we?" came the voice on the other end followed by a jolly laugh. "I know that feeling all to well, back in my days as an outstanding _Huntsman_ I would often go fighting _Grimm_ long into the night. A trying battle to be certain, but I persevered."

"Well, if you didn't I don't think I'd be talking with you now professor," Ragna said, trying to keep his tone neutral as he rolled his eyes at Port's claim. "Funny, normally Goodwitch or Ozpin are my contacts for this sort of thing. How did you get stuck with this?"

"I… wouldn't call myself stuck with this, but I'm afraid we do have a bit of a situation," Port told him. "Judging by where your scroll signal is being sent from, I'd have to say that your unusually far from the wall."

"I sort of have to be; I can't have a huge swarm of _Grimm_ getting so close to the wall or we'd be just asking for trouble," the Reaper reminded as he started walking off. "Not only that, but it's a lot harder than it usually is to find a group of _Grimm_ tonight. The group I just encountered was my first one of the night and I've been searching for hours." His eyes narrowed. "Something's up, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it is," the instructor told him. "A short while ago, we lost contact with one of our _Huntsmen_ in the field. He was close to where you are now. Can you see a set of ruins of in the distance?"

"Yeah, I'm maybe a mile or two away at the most," Ragna said as he stared off into the distance.

"Then that would explain why you were able to encounter this particular group of _Grimm_ ," Port told him. "Back before we lost contact with the _Huntsman_ , he reported that a small group of _Grimm_ he'd trailed were heading into the temple. As I've taught you in my class, normally it wouldn't be so odd for a _Grimm_ to take shelter in a cave-like environment, but this was different… Here the _Grimm_ were moving into the ruins slowly from differing sides, not making any roars or other declaration of claiming territory…"

"...Something's guiding them into there then," Ragna observed bluntly. "...You know that if this is a warming to keep me away, it's failing pretty spectacularly."

"Far from it I'm afraid," Port explained to him. "We have another _Huntsman/Huntress_ team en route to ruins, but you're far closer than they are and time is of the essence. We need you to head into the ruined temple and either extract the target… or figure out what happened to them. It's a difficult job, but I have full faith that you'll emerge victorious."

"Great…" Ragna muttered as he started to hurry in his pace. "You know, this sounds a lot like normal _Huntsman_ work."

"And is that a problem, _Grim Reaper of the Wastelands?"_ Port asked, causing Ragna to pause in his movement.

"...Not many people know that name… and even fewer believe that it could possibly be me," he told Port,

"Well your description does match the rumors," Port informed him. "No secret is too secluded for my keen eye after all."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ragna told his instructor with a sigh. "I'll message you once I get that _Huntsman_ out." ' _Whatever's left of them at this point…'_

 _Meanwhile -Beacon Academy: Student Corridors-_

"Ugh… too many cookies before bed…" Ruby groaned as she gripped her gut, heading out of the bathroom with the mother of all stomach aches. For dessert at the academy, they'd been offering a special batch of cookies handcrafted from Atlus itself. Aside of course from what she could remember of her mother's cookies, these were probably the best ones she'd ever had up to this point. As such she'd… _indulged_ herself a little, more so than usual anyways.

"Classes tomorrow are going to stink…" she sighed to herself under her breath. This was probably true, the mix between probably having carrying a leftover sensation of the stomach ache accompanied with a lack of sleep from awakening at this late hour was likely going to make the next morning hell for the young huntress-in-training.

' _At least I've got Grimm Studies with Professor Port first thing in the morning,'_ she thought to herself. ' _It'd probably be a pain to have him cover for me, but maybe if I can get Ragna to share his notes with me afterwards…'_

Speaking of Ragna, she was passing by his small single room just as she was thinking it. Giving it a passing glance, there shouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary… only to discover that he'd left his door slightly ajar. Normally this wouldn't be too big of deal, but with Ragna on his own and quite a few students bearing a harsh grudge against him it might've been better to make sure her best friend was secure for the night. As she went to close the door though, a curious idea hit her mind… one which she was angry for thinking of, but unable to get out of her head now that it was there.

' _What DOES he look like when he's asleep?'_ she thought. Back during their first day of classes and the first all nighter the two had pulled they'd had fallen asleep near each other in the break room, but not only had Ragna passed out long after her he'd also awoken himself before hand giving her little idea of his sleeping habits. Did he snore loudly? Did he have to curl up into a ball under the covers? Would he be oddly peaceful once as he got some actual rest? The more Ruby thought about it, the more she realized that she _was_ thinking about it.

' _I'm just peeking in on him to make sure he's okay and no one broke into his room,'_ she tried to assure herself. ' _I'm doing this because I'm his friend, not some creepy stalker…'_ Cracking the door open, her eye scanned the dark bedroom in (reluctant) hopes of getting a sight of the Reaper in his natural habitat… only to instead find an empty bed. "Huh?"

This should have technically been breaking and entering, but fully opening the door to Ragna's room she entered. Ruby switched the lights on, checking around the bedroom nervously. Not only was Ragna not here, but both _Aramasa_ and _Clarent_ were gone as well. His favored red coat was also absent as well and after what she'd pulled a few days ago, Ruby was pretty sure Ragna would be hesitant to leave that thing out of sight for even a moment.

"Weird…" Ruby muttered to herself, switching the lights off and closing the door behind her. The feeling of a stomach ache and need to get enough rest were quickly thrown out the window as she searched over the academy looking for Ragna. She checked the places he'd described as his normal sleeping spots (though there was really no reason to bother now that he had a room to himself), the training center (though getting in trouble with Goodwitch last time would've caused him to avoid breaking into that place again), and the library (even though they'd already seen each other there when they'd worked on their assignments together). There was no sign of Ragna or anyone else there.

"This… is getting concerning," she thought aloud as she crossed her arms, heading back through the hallways. "Maybe he's taking a midnight shower or something? But then… why the heck would he do that?"

"Huh, and here I thought I'd be the only one out tonight."

Ruby had to keep herself from screaming as a voice informed her that she wasn't the only one in the hallway. Quickly turning her head at the source, she saw Kagura who clearly looked like he'd been out clubbing all night. Much of his normally neat clothing was left a little ragged, he had a faint smell of alcohol on him, and Ruby was pretty sure those dark spots under his collar weren't welts.

"So then, what's keeping you out of bed?" Kagura asked casually, making some small talk with another girl before the night was over. "In fact with all of those cookies you were eating after dinner, I'm surprised you're not still trapped in the bathroom."

"Urk… don't remind me…" the younger student told him, her stomach now starting to gurgle since it was remind of the pain it had been in. "I was actually looking for Ragna, I passed by his room and… his door was left open…"

"So you broke in and he wasn't there," Kagura summarized, earning a scowl from Ruby. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that… okay maybe I did, but still."

"I was worried about him!" Ruby hissed, trying to keep her voice down so that she wouldn't wake anyone else. "You know that a lot of people still have it out for him! Sure Jin's been calmer lately, but Tsubaki's been _disturbingly_ quiet and Cardin's team still hates his guts!"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me about them," Kagura muttered. ' _Jin's gone quiet though… wonder what happened there.'_ "Anyways I don't know what to tell you either, he wasn't out clubbing at _Junior's_ I can say that much."

" _Junior's_?" Ruby repeated as she tried to think back. ' _Didn't Yang get into a fight there or something? I dunno, she just tells me not to go there.'_ "So… where is he then?"

"Tch, maybe he…" Kagura started to say as he thought back. "...Nah."

"Nah? What do you mean nah?" Ruby demanded, pestering Kagura for answers.

"Well I mean… he could be out with another girl," Kagura muttered, scratching under his nose. Ruby was giving him a pretty obvious _Are you stupid?_ look. "Hey, you pressured me into telling. Besides, I have solid ground for that claim."

"Come on, when have you _ever_ seen Ragna flirting?" Ruby asked, receiving the same look she'd been giving Kagura right back in full. "...What?"

' _Dammit Ragna, make up your mind already,'_ Kagura sighed internally. "Well barring flirting, I did happen to pass by his door one time with a sock on the handle… not exactly a subtle sign."

"A sock on the door…?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to the side innocently. "...Is that some kind of reminder to do laundry?"

"No, it's more of a _Do not disturb sign_ ," Kagura explained. Again, Ruby wasn't getting it. "As in _Do not disturb_ because a guy's in there with a girl… and they _really_ don't want to be bothered."

"...Oh," Ruby finished as she got it, the slightest of blushes show up on her face (obviously her father had given her and Yang 'the talk'). "Wait, when was this?"

"Right before the _Grimm's Day_ dance, kinda surprised that Ragna would be doing something like that in broad daylight," Kagura muttered.

"There's no possible way _that_ could have happened," Ruby told him with a scowl. "Ragna had been busy planning the party and when we got back he was ready to get changed into his costume."

"I'm just telling you what I saw; cross my heart," Kagura informed. "And he's gone now, isn't he? And you have no idea where he is?"

"Well I doubt he's out sneaking out at this time of night for… for that!" Ruby vented as she continued to scowl. "Ragna's not that type of person!"

"...Your team sure has a lot of faith in him; faith that no one else seems to give him," Kagura said before looking back to the room and then Ruby once more, starting to feel like he was going further into the wrong here. "Look, go back to sleep then. You can ask Ragna in the morning can't you?"

"I...I can, but what if he's in trouble?"

"Knowing him, he's always in trouble in some way, right?" Kagura reminded, putting on a smile that he was less of a womanizing charming one (he tried) and more of a reassuring one. "And from what I've seen he has a habit of taking care of trouble in his own special and completely vulgar way." Ruby didn't deny any off that. "Just trust that he's going to be back by morning and ask him then, knowing Ragna it's probably just something small and stupid anyways."

"Maybe…" Ruby said, not feeling to sure of herself before nodding. "Alright, I'll ask him then." As she headed down the hallway, she was about to open her room before turning to Kagura. "You know… you actually kind of remind me of my uncle in a way…"

"You mean because I'm the guy you can always go to for level headed and experienced advice?" Kagura asked, liking the comparison.

"...Actually I was going for the fact that you'll chase anything in a skirt and you smell like booze, but whatever makes you feel better," Ruby teased, leaving Kagura's face to blanche. "Seriously though, thanks."

Kagura watched Ruby close the door behind her before he chuckled and wistfully shook his head. Heading back to his team room, he tried to ready his body for the last few hours of sleep that he could get it before he'd have to wake up.

"Lucky bastard," he muttered under his breath as he carefully opened the door, careful not to wake any of his teammates. Getting into his bed, he put his hands behind his head as he stared up at the dark ceiling. ' _If he goes and breaks her heart though, I'll give him the beating of his life.'_

 _ **The Outlands -The Ruins Entrance-**_

"Just like Port said, something's pulling those monsters to this place," Ragna muttered as he stood in front of the ruins he'd been asked to investigate, _Aramasa_ resting on his shoulder as a small collection of _Grimm_ slowly dissolved behind him. Bringing out his scroll, he tapped the screen to activate and inform the Professor of his position… only to have it frizz out on him. "Dammit; no signal. Just my..."

He'd been about to say luck, but stopped himself as he put the device away. Sure it was possible that this could have been traced to the Reaper's growing sense of unfortunate encounters (and he didn't think he'd _ever_ be able to rule out the possibility), it felt like something else was going on here. Sure he was in the outlands, but he was still relatively close to city. Definitely close enough to grab at least a little spotty reception, but right now he was getting nothing. Sure if he was already underground it would have been one thing, but this was while he was still in the fresh night air. ...His luck could either seriously be that bad, or-

"Someone's jamming me…" Ragna concluded. "But that would take working machinery, a high-frequency semblance, a _very_ specific _Grimm_ or…" He shook his head; number four was _NOT_ an option, not in this day and age. "But if that really is the case, it means that there's something other than _Grimm_ in there… this is just getting great."

Despite all of his complaints, none of it stopped Ragna from heading into the ruins to carry out his job. He knew full well that every moment spent griping was an extra moment that he'd have to spend outside in the wilds instead of his nice warm bad. True he didn't have to do these _Grimm_ hunts that often (once every two weeks was usually enough to keep his skills sharp and the monsters down), but he'd completely missed his opening thanks to party demands and his time spent with Team _RWBY_ … In fact it felt like he was spending more time with all of them than without… And that was bringing up more rumors… Rumors for a lot of students.

 _ **(Author's Note: Cover this in a side-story chapter?)**_

' _...Barring all of that for right now, I gotta stay focused if I'm going to get through this alive,'_ the Reaper muttered to himself as he made his way down the darkened hallways of the ruins, trying to keep his wits about him as he could have been ambushed by the _Grimm_ at any second. Up ahead he noticed there was a torn corpse of the ground, it's skeleton crushed and lacking any flesh. Getting a better look at it, he saw that it already had plenty of dust gathered on it and the clothes certainly from anything in this generation.

"This guy's been here a while now; not the _Huntsman I've_ been looking for," he muttered to himself as he kept his sword out. Walking further on, up ahead he noticed that the pathway split into three… and he had the feeling that there'd be some form of _Grimm_ no matter which way he went. "Great… just great."

Trusting his instincts (though he knew he'd _somehow_ make the wrong move) the Reaper decided that he'd head down the center path first, seeing where it would lead him. For all of the _Grimm_ that were probably lurking about, he wasn't seeing any outright… then he found them.

' _Holy crap…'_

Turning around the corner, he found himself on the top part of a ruined staircase overlooking a large throne room, completely swarmed with the _Grimm._ There were countless of the monsters here, many of differing types and sizes. All of these monsters clumped together in one place was a rare sight, and to have this sheer volume of them was almost unheard of. In fact the only section that seemed to be completely devoid of _Grimm_ was a broken section of the floor leading to all long fall and deep into the earth… and the apparent master sitting on the throne.

The supposed master was decked completely in black attire; a biker's black leather suit, black combat boots, black gloves topped with some kind of ebony gem… and a black and red jagged _Grimm_ mask. A strange sort of lime green lightning cackled from beneath the armor, emerging occasionally as sparks though the small chinks in the armor. The figure was sitting on the throne with their arms and legs crossed as they looked over the massive group of _Grimm_ before them.

' _Well that lightning might be enough to explain why I'm not getting any reception out here… but why the hell aren't they getting torn to pieces?'_

As if to answer his question, Ragna noticed one of the large _Beowolfs_ walking forward, a low growl as it approached the individual sitting upon the throne. It let out a hefty roar, likely in challenge for control of the pack. The person sitting on the throne merely raised a gloved hand, the ebony gem atop it giving a dark glow. Though the _Grimm_ didn't seem to be in any pain, the monster's growl slowly became subdued as it slinked back to its place within the fold.

' _Some sort of Grimm controlling item, that's all kinds of trouble…'_ Ragna thought as he observed the from where he remained hidden. ' _Still no sign of the Huntsman that Port mentioned, but all things considered they're probably already dead.'_

Under such dangerous and outrageous circumstances, normal _Huntsmen_ would retreat from the ruins until backup could arrive (something that was already on its way for Ragna), but the mix of Ragna's intense training for Jubei along with his own lack of fear told him that this was something that he needed to handle himself. Putting _Aramasa_ back on his belt, Ragna instead took _Clarent_ out from its sheath, quickly switching his weapon over to its gun form. Trying to keep the element of stealth to himself, he carefully poked the weapon from his hiding place to take out the person sitting atop the throne first. No hesitation required, he lined up the shot with his target's head and fired.

 _ **CRACK!**_

The sound of the gunshot was booming and only seemed to echo throughout the ruins, something that Ragna had come to expect in using something with this fire power… what he hadn't expected was for the enigma to dodge the shot, leaving the stone throne they'd been sitting on to shattered from the sheer force of the bullet.

' _What the-?'_ "ERK!"

Twisting the weapon back to its sword form as quickly as he could, Ragna rose to blade behind him to guard as the figure sitting on the throne had teleported behind him. He felt the sudden force of the blow, accompanied by the sting of lightning as he was blasted away sending hurtling through the air before he managed to adjust him body in midair and landed beside the ruined throne.

 **(Cue** _**Devil May Cry 5**_ _Crimson Cloud_ Extended **)**

"You chose a poor time to get lost… or are you here for a reason?" the enigmatic figure said as they stepped forward on the small perch now trading places with Ragna. Their voice was masked through some sort of harsh static in the mask, though Ragna could easily tell this speaker was a woman. They had a katana in each hand which was shrouded with electricity like that from inside the suit. Both of the gems on their gauntlets were glowing as they took control of the massive _Grimm_ force that stood before Ragna. Surprisingly, they weren't using it to charge at the Reaper, instead holding back the snarling jaw and feral instincts of the monsters.

"...Where's the _Huntsman_ that got here before me?" Ragna demanded with a fierce scowl, not having seen any bodies inside of the massive hoard of _Grimm_.

"Down there, likely still being torn to shreds as we speak," the figure said gesturing to the hole in the broken ground. "But if you've come after him, it's clear that I've been found out… meaning I'll have to silence you too."

"Tch, just try it," Ragna muttered, clearly not impressed.

Instead of immediately rushing him with her own blades, the enigmatic woman gestured with her hand while the gem atop it was continuing to glow with power. Doing so caused a few of the smaller _Grimm_ from the oversized pack to rush out and leap forward at Ragna. Quickly switching out his longsword for his original weapon, Ragna cleaved through the entire group in just a two swings with his oversized sword, but all his opponent had been looking for was an opening. Moving faster than the eye could see, the enigma appeared directly behind Ragna. Having a little more preparation than last time, Ragna raised his blade managed to guard against the katana blade but he still had to grit his teeth as his opponent's lightning coursed through him at the impact. His opponent then made a second strike which he was forced to swing against and felt the lightning as the blades clashed once more.

Stabbing her blade forward and giving Ragna yet another jolt of electricity as he guarded the blow, she seemed to be trying to be pouring as much lightning as she could into the contact; trying to overload Ragna with the electricity… or at least keep him paralyzed. From the crowd three _Boarbatusks_ spun their bodies forward as they charged at Ragna while the enigma he was facing brought their sword up for their own slash he was distracted. Gritting his teeth through the pain of the lightning, Ragna gave a rough shove to the blade channeling the electricity into him before countering the second sword with desperate slash. Twisting his body around, he sent out a reckless kick that just barely managed to catch the rolling threats and blasted them back into the crowd, either crushing or knocking over several _Grimm_.

Pressing her assault now that Ragna had been forced to take plenty of her lightning, the masked woman pressued the Reaper with several quick and contant sword strikes, forcing Ragna to the defensive as he still had to work to power through the lingering feeling of paralysis. If he hadn't already had experience tanking lightning bolts from a certain _bunny leech_ (all of the times he's pissed her off), Ragna might've started to feel overwhelmed by the electricity. For now though all it was seeming to do was make things both painful and difficult for him, especially since every connecting slash just charged him even further with electricity.

' _Tch, if I really wanted to I could try dual wielding myself…'_ Ragna thought to himself as he tried to keep his mind focused on the fight right in front of him. ' _But if I tried bringing out Clarent, I'd just be giving them a chance to shock me twice as much…'_

Noticing that one of the gems on the enigma's gauntlet was glowing, the Reaper trust his sixth sense and roared as he made a powerful overhead smash. His opponent leaped back, leaving his blade to crash into the stone floor. Adjusting his grip on the blade, he quickly stabbed his sword back and impaled the blade straight through the large _Ursa_ that had been about to crush him from behind. As the katana user charged forward, Ragna leaped into air to avoid the attack as he still felt a few jolts of stay lightning crackle against this clothing.

Now that he'd put some distance between him and his opponent, Ragna took out Clarrent once more and fired off the remaining five shots at his opponent. As expected though, the bullets didn't come close to hitting them as they simply batted them out of the way with their twin swords, every deflected bulleted breaking a large chunk of stone. Using their gauntlet, they sent one of the _Beowolfs_ leaping into the air after Ragna, only for the Reaper to cleave it in half with his own blade. The lightning on the enigma's blades seemed to intensify as it channeled its ability. Giving a hefty swing with both of its swords, they sent a crossed energy wave at Ragna, which he barely managed to interrupt as the _Grimm_ were continuing to swarm him.

' _He's good, far better than that Huntsman I killed earlier,'_ the Enigma thought to themselves as Ragna was forced to fight and defend himself from the monsters under their control. From beneath the mask, they stiffened as they saw the bullets that Ragna had been firing at them earlier and that had caused so much damage… the _rubber_ bullets. ' _...He's insane.'_

A roar brought her attention back to her opponent as he faced her monsters, still ainborne with all of the _Grimm_ that had leaped after him while he was in the air. Apparently he'd had enough of this because as he switched back to _Aramasa_ , he channeled… something into his sword and caused it to radiate with darkness. Roaring, he drove the blade downwards and slashed through several _Grimm_ before making contact with the ground and causing a large explosion of darkness, killing several _Grimm_ in a large radius. With little time to catch his breath, Ragna transformed his weapon into its scythe form and cleaved through more _Grimm_ with its blade of dark energy. Even now there were plenty of _Grimm_ left, so Ragna could continue to focus on the bigger threat in front of him .

Moving faster than the eye could see once more, the enigma tried to cut Ragna from behind with their twin katana blades. Instead of avoid this attack, Ragna turned into a wicked scythe swing, causing the weapons to clash and send further electricity coursing through his body. Knowing that her remaining _Grimm_ wouldn't be much help in this context, the masked woman instead pressed the offensive with her twin swords swinging in quick rapid succession at the Reaper. Every strike between the weapons sent another deadly jolt into his body, but this wasn't slowing Ragna down in the slightest. In fact, he was able to keep both of his opponents blades at bay with his single scythe.

' _Dammit, by now most people would be a twitching mess on the ground, but he seems to be going as strong as ever,'_ the woman desperately thought to herself through the exchange, pushing herself further and making more reckless slashes as she tried not to be on the receiving end of any of Ragna's attack. Making contacts with his weapon and sending yet another powerful jolt through him, she saw the Reaper's slight wince as he continued to fight through the pain. ' _It looked like it was getting to him until he… started to… kill my Grimm..._

Realization hitting her, she wasn't quick enough to brace her guard against Ragna's scythe and was blasted off of her feet. Crashing into the wall, she left a large indent in the ruins wall before losing her grip on both of her katanas and falling to the ground in defeat.

 _(Pause theme)_

Struggling to get up, she barely managed to raise her front half off the ground as the pieces of her broken mask fell to the ground. Growling, she looked up and glared at Ragna as he got a first good look at the woman behind the mask. She had short black hair and leathery grey skin. Her eyes were a vile shade of yellow and her green lightning continued to crackle against her skin.

"Tch, you going to give me answers now?" he irately demanded as he allowed his scythe revert into its regular sword form. He was aware that the _Grimm_ around him still posed a threat (as much as they usually did to him at least), but for whatever reason the gems on the enigma's gauntlets seemed to be keeping them back. The one controlling the _Grimm_ was breathing heavier than they should have been even after considering the massive blow Ragna had delivered. It as if she was in constant pain without wearing the mask he'd broken.

"Which… which number were you?" she asked, leaving Ragna's body to stiffen. "… What did _they_ give you as your ID?"

' _You can't be serious,'_ the Reaper thought, a deep dread covering his entire body as the question brought back deep memories of a past he'd much rather have forgotten about. ' _Was… was she was part of… THE PROJECT?'_ "...I was... _R-666_."

"Huh, part of the _R-Series_ ; that makes you around two years younger than me," the enigma said through pained breaths. "They called me _F-264._ " She gave Ragna only the smallest of smirks, one which he saw masked a terrible pain. "Of course now I go by _Granite_."

Seeing her give off such an expression might've caused Ragna to lower his blade, but before he could even think of following through he saw the glowing gem as the enigma now called Granite took control of yet another _Grimm_. This wasn't just any other monster either; this _Ursa_ was easily the biggest Ragna had ever seen as it towered over him. Quickly turning, he was about to stop the _Grimm's_ charge… right before the monster ran right by him.

' _Huh?'_ he grunted in his mind as he looked at the charging creature heading right for Granite. ' _What the hell is she-!?'_

" _ **GWWWAAAAAHHHH!"**_

 _(Resume)_

Hearing the _Grimm's_ cry of pain, Ragna's eyes widened as he saw Granite biting hard into the creature's rough flesh. No human bite would ever be able to pierce the _Grimm's_ thick black fur or their hard hides… but a _Shark Faunus's_ razor sharp teeth and titanic jaw strength would be plenty to do the job. As the monster faded into darkness, Ragna saw the remaining ash going into his opponent's mouth. Giving the Reaper a haunting smile, her pained expression seemed to fade completely as her dropped katana's seemed to fly back into her hands… and her electric aura exploded.

" _ **DIE."**_

Under just her first strike, Ragna could tell that he wasn't fighting against the same opponent as before as the ground under him cracked from the impact. Even through the impact hadn't lasted nearly as long, Ragna received over twice the regular amount of lightning. Gritting his teeth under the pain, he deflected the second sword swing and felt the electricity charge into him body a second time. Growing reckless, he made a slash with his sword only to pull it away at the last instant and leave his opponent making an awkward slash. Using the time to his advantage, he tensed his muscles and delivered a mean left hook to his opponents face. Though he likely took more damage than he got thanks to the lightning, his opponent did take a visible lurch back, blood leaking from Granite's broken nose.

Instead of growing angry, throwing a crazed one liner, or even sending her _Grimm_ to do the dirty work for her, she took the smartest option and rushed forward keeping the offensive on Ragna while she had the advantage. Ragna's blade clashed with hers and sent a harsh jolt through him yet again. He actually managed to avoid the second blow entirely by ducking under it, but the third strike actually grazed against his cheek. Blocking the swords with his own was child's play compared to actually getting hit by the blow. Now it was powerful enough for his skeleton to show, and Ragna felt his body freeze at the jolt's pure power. Using that time to her advantage, Granite made a scissor slash with both of her swords to cleave Ragna in half at the waist.

 _ **CLANG!**_

If Ragna didn't have the _Barrier_ ability granted to him by being a _Drive_ user, he might've been cut clean in half by the twin blades. As things stood now, he was still alive and Granite was caught off guard. Shouting to empower his swing, he made a deadly cut as Granite disappeared from view, reappearing behind the cover of her _Grimm_ … where she was gripping her viciously cut chest.

 _(End theme)_

' _Finally some actually damage on this chick,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he tried to keep his focus, the occasional flash of lightning sparking off the top of his head. ' _Of course any damage that I deal…'_

"Don't… don't tell me…" the _Shark Fanus_ began as blood leaked profusely from the damage Ragna had caused. The high she'd gotten from eating a _Grimm_ earlier was gone and her labored breaths sounded even further strained. In spite of all of this, she gave Ragna a vicious smile. "YOU ACTUALLY EXPECTED THAT TO WORK!?"

Calling another _Grimm_ to her side and quickly sinking her fangs into the monster, her entire complexion suddenly became healthier as she absorbed the very essence of the monster. Ragna saw her wound quickly close and the armor she wore on top closed with it. Now her lightning was back to full power and her fangs were gleaming in the darkness.

' _Shit, I'm at a bad disadvantage,'_ Ragna thought to himself as a single bead of sweat formed on his brow (which also crackled with the electricity). By now the cut on his cheek had healed to the point where you couldn't tell that he'd been cut to begin with, but the lightning was another story. ' _This ain't Rachel's lightning, but if I keep getting hit with it and they keep healing I'm in for trouble… She didn't know about my barrier… but I think she'll be a little more on guard for my drives.'_

"You've probably realized by now that you've been backed into a corner," Granite taunted as she kept her _Grimm_ back with the power of her gems. "My organization told me not to leave any witnesses. Even if you came from the same hellhole I did, I'm afraid orders are orders." She gave a small snarl. "So make this easy on both of us and give me an easy target, I'll make sure you don't have to suffer any longer."

"...To think I've got to go this far," Ragna muttered as he gripped his gloved hand into a fist and grit his teeth. This was the _other_ part of his drive, the semblance he swore he'd never use until he found _him_ … but if this opponent was giving him this much trouble, he didn't have much of a choice.

' _My Master just had to take one look at it... He took one look at it and he said it was probably the deadliest semblance known to Remnant.'_

"...You're bluffing…" Granite said, her snarl growing in size and viciousness.

Ragna said nothing in return as he started to focus his power as a sickly black aura formed around him. Gritting his teeth, the aura started to intensify as the ground started rumbling around him… right before he suddenly dropped charging his own power.

"What's wrong? Scared!?" Granite demanded with an enraged shout, only to realize that the rumbling wasn't ceasing. "Wait, you're not causing that…?"

"Not me, it's coming from…" Ragna was silent as he looked to large hole that the _Huntsman_ from earlier had died in earlier… or so his opponent had thought.

"That… that should be impossible! I saw them-" Granite shouted as she used her gem to control a large amount of _Grimm_. Giving monstrous snarls, they leaped down into the hole… only to be incinerated by a giant column of flame, rising out from the depths below. "What!?"

"Hailed by the heavens... earth… AND PEOPLE!"

 **(Cue** _ **BlazBlue: Continuum Shift**_ **GALE)**

The floor of the ruins cracked viciously as a man leaped from the underground. He was dressed in dark green ninja attire and had a massive nail on his back. His shaggy brown hair was tied off in the back and he carried a vicious x-shaped scar in the middle of his his face. He appeared to have been caught in a bad scrape earlier and was covered in freshly applied bandages… but such wounds could do nothing to stop him now.

" _ **HERE COMES THE HERO OF JUSTICE! BANG SHISHIGAMI!"**_

Landing to the ground with dynamic effect, he rushed towards the _Grimm_ and destroyed three _Beowolfs_ with a flaming punch. An _Ursa Grimm_ came up from behind him and slashed hard with its claws, only to hit an after-image of the ninja. Turning into a flaming roundhouse kick, Bang brought down the monster before sliding back.

"LO EVILDOERS! I'LL HAVE YOU PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES! YOUR DISHONORABLE TRICKS MAY HAVE HALTED MY RIGHTEOUS FLAMES, BUT NOW I-!"

" _ **WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!?"**_ Granite shouted as shut rushed forward to cleave Bang in half in the middle of shpiel of justice. As her katana blades closed in on him, they were blocked by Ragna's own oversized sword. Even with the insane amount of voltage he'd taken earlier, Bang's speech and distraction had given Ragna all the time he had need to recover and now he was ready for another round. Giving a hefty slash, he sent his opponent sliding back.

"Apologies for not stepping in until now, but I'm afraid my wounds left me in a rather dire position," the ninja known as Bang told Ragna, the two easily able to recognize each other as allies. "Might I ask your name, young warrior?"

"Ragna, but let's leave introductions at that," the Reaper said as he pointed his sword at Granite. "If you can take out those _Grimm_ , I'll handle overbite over there."

"Overbite?" Granite snarled at the insulting nickname.

"A heroic charge for two then," Bang concluded with a triumphant smirk.

"Whatever the hell you want to call it!" Ragna finished as he two groups rushed forward.

Grabbing one of the _Grimm_ by their fur, Bang used the creature as a battering ram and broke through the mass of monsters sending several of them high into the air. Throwing the monster he'd grabbed upwards, Bang threw several kunais and nailed all of the monsters right in their eyes. Several of the _Grimm_ tried rushing him from the front, but Bang only needed a moment to take a deep breath before he exhaled a storm of flames, buring the _Grimm_ to cinders.

On Ragna's end of the battlefield, the Reaper had managed to adapt to Granite's increased power and even her lightning output. Blocking her katanas with his sword, he went for a harsher offense and sent her off balance. Stabbing his sword forward, he managed to cut a shallow gash across her waist as she dove out of the way. Cleaving her swords through the air, she sent an X shaped sword wave at Ragna, but the Reaper easily sidestepped the attack as he transformed his sword into its scythe form. Pressing forward with an onslaught of attacks, he kept Granite on the defensive as her lightning aura started to flicker. Using her gems, she tried to attack another Ursa _Grimm_ to her side so she could heal… only to see the monster get stabbed through the back by a giant nail.

"NEITHER CORRUPT SOUL NOR MONSTEROUS GRIMM CAN ESCAPE MY FISTS OF JUSTICE!" Bang shouted as he took a running start with his signature nail, impaling it through monster after monster like it was a spear head. Out of the corner of his eyes, he notice several _Grimm_ heading straight for Granite while she fought to hold off Ragna. Grabbing out a strange parasol, he threw the object above the _Grimm's_ head and let it rain down deadly nails. Throwing his larger nail into the air above the final group of of _Grimm_ , Bang leaped high about his weapon. Giving a powerful roar worthy of a legendary warrior, he struck the top of the nail and sent it screaming down into the center of the group causing a large fiery explosion that wiped out the last of the _Grimm_.

"It's over!" Ragna shouted as he made a final heavy swing at Granite with his scythe, swinging his entire body into the devastating blow. Too beaten and spent to even dodge the blow, she braced herself as she raised both of her blades to defend against the attack. The slash carved her katanas to pieces and sent the beaten Granite back into the wall once more where she fell to the floor, beaten and bloody.

 _(End theme)_

"And so we have triumphed at last!" Bang yelled before giving a hearty laugh to their victory. "Once more, justice has prevailed!"

' _He might have that nail, but honestly this guy's acting like he's got a couple of screws loose,'_ Ragna thought to himself humorlessly. As his scythe once more reverted back to its sword form, he made his way over to Granite who was only giving off the occasional pathetic spark. "Earlier you said something about working for some organization… if you want to live you're going to-"

"Tell you everything I know about them?" Granite interrupted, finishing Ragna's sentence as she winced harshly. "Sure thing… I don't owe those people anything… I'm not about to die for their cause..."

"While I would normally scold such frail bonds of loyalty, since this works to both of our favors I shall allow it this once," Bang told her as he made his way forward beside Ragna. "We'll bring you back with us for medical treatment and allow you to explain yourself to-"

 _ **CRACK!**_

"GET BACK!" Ragna shouted as he grabbed Bang by his collar and forced him away from Granite. On both of her dark gems, large cracks appeared on their surfaces and continued to spread, growing with chaotic energy as both artifacts began to shake and unleash a dark force.

"WHAT!? THEY DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!" Granite screamed as she tried to get the objects off of her gauntlets only for the power to sear her hands and cause her to scream as the energy got brighter. " _ **YOU LIED TO ME! SALEM! YOU BIIITCH!"**_

The explosion was blinding as the entire ruin rumbled under amount of sheer power that had been unleashed. Deep harrowing cracks appeared in the floors walls and ceiling as even the tiniest of pebbles turned to deadly sharpnel. As the light faded, Bang saw Ragna standing in front of him with a barrier raised to take the full force of the explosion. Breathing heavily at the close call, he dropped his his guard.

"...I believe I owe you for that," Bang told him as way of thanks, yet there was no joy in his voice as he looked to the obliterated section of the room where Granite had exploded. "A shame we weren't fast enough…"

"Can't cry to much though; she was trying to kill us," Ragna told him bluntly, colder to the world than usual.

"That might have been true, but I still cannot smile when I see the needless loss of life," Bang told him, a deathly seriously look in his eye. "And that information she would have given us could have been vital for saving the lives of countless others…"

' _...I guess he can be serious after all,'_ Ragna thought to himself. "I guess all we got was a name then… Salem or something?"

"Indeed, and I'm afraid I have no knowledge about any such person. It's a small gain for all of the effort that we've put in, but I suppose as warriors of justice we'll have to take any prize afforded to us."

' _Warriors of Justice…? That's more Tsubaki's thing,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he remembered some of the books he'd seen his partner reading the few times she hadn't been trying to kill him.

Given all of the action that had happened within the ruins, the two needed to be careful as they made their way out. Every step they took could have caused the temple to cave in on them, but miraculously they managed to make it outside without setting off a disaster. Bang gave a sigh as he took in a deep breath of fresh air.

"Sorry, but this is where we're going to have to part ways," Ragna told him bluntly. "There's supposed to be a _Huntsman/Huntress_ pair coming to pick you up, so you're going to have to wait here for them."

"I understand, but might I know what needs you have to leave so readily?" Bang questioned sincerely.

"Classes tomorrow, gonna have to enjoy what few precious hours… _the hour_ of sleep that I can get," Ragna told him with a harsh yawn.

"Ah, so that is the path you have chosen," Bang said, giving Ragna a proud and genuine smile. "We seem to be cut from the same cloth you and I; _Huntsman_ and _Teachers_ both. And for you to have accomplished both at such an early age! It feels me with pride!"

"…Is now a bad time to mention I'm neither of those since I'm still just a student?"

"..."

Ragna swore he saw Bang's jaw hit the floor. "Right… Later." Not giving Bang a chance to question him, the Reaper started to head back for Beacon academy where his bed was calling for him.

' _What kind of training regimen does Ozpin put his students through? Have I been to soft on my own?'_ Bang couldn't help but continue to think after Ragna had left. Already the horizon was slowly starting to brighten, indicating that sunrise was not far off. Despite his need to stay aware paired with his large natural adrenaline, even Bang felt the need to doze off after the beating he'd taken. Though instead of fully falling asleep, he'd instead settled for meditating.

"I should have known it was you in dire trouble… why does it always seem to come to this?" came a voice that was _very_ familiar to the Shishigami ninja. Opening his eyes with a visible tick-mark on his head, he was greeted with the sight of his teammate from days long passed.

"And you seem to be arriving late as usual, Relius," Bang told him with an authoritative huff as he rose to his feet. "Do you have no respect for your own Team Leader?"

"Apologies, but I'm afraid I'll have to call a spade a spade if I must" Relius Clover told him as he adjusted his golden mask. Bang had never liked his new fashion accessory, it let him be more mysterious when he usual was… and that was clearly saying something.

"A spade I might be, but you know that if our roles were reversed I would not rest for a second to save you," Bang reminded, continuing to tout his hero role. "And before you say that will never happen-"

"It _did_ happen, I remember," the enigmatic _Huntsman_ admitted, owning up to the past that the two had shared. "But I'm afraid I didn't come here to reminisce about the days long past. I was to be your extraction… and I'll admit I half-expected to find a body."

"Yee of little faith," Bang chided. "Truth to be told I might have been discovered and slain if that stu… _individual_ had not come to my aid before you." Relius had a suspicion of what the ninja had been about to say, but decided not to comment on it. "That aside I was told that there would be two of you to rescue me, where is the other one?"

"Back home I'm afraid, unfortunately Ignis wasn't feeling up for the task when we were both called in." Such words did little to but Bang at ease. "Just some minor food poisoning, I made sure my wife was safe before coming to grab you."

"I see then," Bang said as he and his partner both started heading for Beacon. "So is there any chance you can-?"

"Write your own report Bang, I'm not covering for you _again_ ," Relius told him, with a slight scowl beneath his mask as Bang sighed at his failed effort. ' _Honestly, this man never changes…'_

 _Back at Beacon_

' _Okay, not doing this again…'_ Ragna thought to himself as he walked through the dormitory hallways on his way back to his room. This might not have been the first time in his life where he'd had to fight long into the night (Jubei could attest to that), but with his classes waiting for him in the morning he'd have to hurry if he didn't want to repeat his early days at the academy and sleep through his classes. At least now he didn't have to worry about where he slept… but there was plenty else weighing down on his mind.

' _Project Grimm Eater_ _...'_ he thought to himself, starting to flashback to some of the earliest days of his childhood. ' _I… didn't think there were any survivors besides the three of us after that… accident.'_ Ragna sighed. ' _Dammit, this is the last thing that I need on my mind…'_

Soon he'd finally made his way back to his door. Digging his room key out of his pocket, he went to unlock the door… before realizing that the lock was already undone.

"...Correction, _this_ is the last thing that I needed right now," Ragna muttered to himself as he opened the door to his room. He was expecting his clothes to be ransacked, his bed to be shredded, Ren's plant destroyed… god knows what. What he got instead was a plate of cookies on top of his desk. "Huh?"

These were the specialty _Atlus_ cookies that they'd been serving at the cafeteria earlier that night (or given the timing, _last_ night). Not being one for sweets he'd given his to Ruby (before realizing that she'd already gone back for fifths) and had abstained so he could start his _Grimm_ hunting earlier. Behind the small platter of three cookies was a small note.

' _Hope you made it back safe. Thought you could use a light snack after your night out. Kagura was ridiculous and thought you were out with some girl. Can you believe that!'_

Okay, Ragna felt a _small_ jab at the insinuation that it couldn't happen, but he read on.

' _Just… be safe alright? I worry about you sometimes, all four of us do._

 _Your bestest friend,_

 _Ruby'_

"Ruby giving someone cookies? I think the fires of hell just froze over," Ragna thought to himself with the smallest of smirks as he decided to leave the plate for the morning and finally made his way into bed. True, thoughts of his dark past weren't gone…

 _But the present helped._

 _ **Author's Note (and small post section after the review)**_

 _ **HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BANG SHISHIGAMI!**_

 _ **Phew, this chapter took a lot longer to put out than I was expecting, so I hope you like it. Don't worry about Makoto and Mai, you'll be seeing them soon enough. Season six is just about wrapped about wrapped up with RWBY and… despite my fears, it actually feels like I've got more material to work with an make things interesting.**_

 _ **That said, let's do the author reviews… and no offense to anyone reviewing the DBX, but I won't be talking about it here (I warned you last time)**_

 _Classy JOK3R:_ ...People like you are making me think that I need to sit down one of these days and finally watch the _Fate_ series.

 _Pally111_ : The four of them each give something interesting to the dynamic.

 _ArantusCumPinnae_ : ...So you're advocating for three ships at once? What's above an Admiral then?

 _Dcraus_ : Sorry, but I don't think I'm up for writing another story.

 _Wlyman2009_ : I can give them some interactions here, but that's about all I can promise.

 _The Unplanner_ : Thanks again for a lengthy review.

 _Yungsun_ : Might want to get that checked out.

 _Reclusive Dork_ : The pairing is somewhat popular these days.

 _EpicLinkSam_ : Always a pleasure to here from you my friend, don't be a stranger.

 _WideBrimmedHat_ : ...While here we have someone _getting_ stranger.

 _VirusChris_ : Thanks again for a lengthy review, but you might want to consider several postings so that you get everything in.

 _CrimsonDemon666_ : Honestly, I think he gets enough Devil May Cry comparisons without trying (just putting him and Yuzuriha on a team in TAG draws all kinds of those comments)

 _Star's Keyblade4114_ : Sorry! Soon though!

 _RedBurningDragon_ : Might be a team in the mock fights, we'll just have to see.

 _Medblare_ : Come on, it's going to get destroyed anyways… Too soon?

Restia32: Sorry, didn't translate.

 _Bismarck Alexander_ : Here's more for ya!

 _Lolrus55_ : PM'd you already. I think we worked out our disagreement there.

 _ **Okay, post credits scene Ciao!**_

"So.. Glynda Goodwitch began as she glared at Ragna. "You say you need a new scroll… why exactly?"

"If I've got to say it..." he muttered as he brought the device out, leaving Goodwitch's glare to grow even deeper.

His scroll had been on the receiving end of too much lightning the night prior. The screen was practically melted, the circuitry was completely fried, and Glynda still smelled smoke coming from the destroyed object. She didn't know how someone _could_ break a scroll this badly and still claim it was an accident… but here was Ragna trying.

"It's kinda dead…" he muttered as he handed Goodwitch the remains. She didn't take them. "...Mop?"

"MOP."


	15. Black Reunion

"Guess today's the day they finally get here," one Kagura Mutsuki said, feeling quite pleased as he laid on his bed inside his team room, reading from one of his textbooks while Jin sat on his bed writing his own notes on the homework. It was Friday evening and the group was waiting to hear from Noel and Tsubaki so they could get their 'class reunion' underway. "I don't think Noel was ever going to let us forget about today, she's been darn chipper ever since she's heard the news."

"I can't say that I really blame her," Celica said as she combed her hair, one of the few times that it wasn't done in it's usual ponytail. "The way Noel's been so excited to see her old friends, I've been getting eager to meet them myself! They sound like really great people!"

"I'd curb your enthusiasm slightly," Jin warned as he adjusted his glasses. "The both of them can be somewhat… eccentric and they both have fairly odd quirks to them."

"Eh, even with those I'm looking forward to seeing both of them," Kagura said with his own smile. "You think they've both gotten bigger?"

"Kagura…" Jin responded with a sigh at his teammate's womanizing nature.

"I'm confused, if it hasn't been that long since you've seen them, shouldn't they both be around the same height?" Celica asked tilting her head to the side, as both boys stared at her with a sense of awe.

"...How in the seven hells has he not corrupted you?" Jin demanded as the dark haired member of _JACK_ glared daggers at him. "That aside, has anyone seen Amane today?"

"Apparently he has somewhere else to be today," Kagura said, slowly returned his attention to his book and trying to return his attention to the pages. "...Something about helping Team _JNPR_."

' _That sounds troublesome,'_ Jin thought to himself.

 _-At that very moment-_

"AAAAAUUUGGHHH!"

"Jaune, just try to bear with it!" his partner, Pyrrha, tried to encourage. "This is just stretching for a warm-up! It's important!"

"And Leeeeean!" Amane said joyfully, using his ribbons to control Jaune and force him all the way to the right, mirroring the stretching position in front of the blonde.

"I've never been in as much pain as I am right now!" Jaune screamed as the ribbons forced his body to move a way he never imagined it could.

"And Baaaaaaaack!" the dancer continued, forcing Jaune to lean back and cause him to shout his head off even further as he was proven wrong.

' _And here I thought that stretching was supposed to be good for your health,'_ the level headed Lie Ren thought to himself, sweating slightly at the sight of Jaune in so much pain that his face was starting to get red, matching the red-based white-striped tracksuit he was wearing.

"And nooooow…" Amane began with a sigh song voice.

"Break! Break! Breeeeeeaaaak!" Jaune screamed in his current predicament. "Let me goooooooo!" Amane and Pyrrha gave soft sighs at his outbursts while Ren was rightly concerned for the current state of Jaune's body.

"Let me try something…" Nora said sweetly to Ren as she walked forward to Jaune as Amane continued to hold him in place with his ribbons whilst posing. "So Jaune… you don't like stretching?"

The blonde shook his head repeatedly, his face begging to be let go.

"But you know, you have to do this right? It's for your own good," she continued, her bright smile seeming a bit misplaced at the moment.

He didn't answer, nor did he look Nora in the eyes as he felt guilty for his own lack of ability.

"That's okay if you don't want to continue stretching, I always have plan B."

Jaune gave her a quizzical look; Nora's plans were almost never practical, most of the time they were barely sensible.

"If you want results REEEEEEAAAL fast... I can always go and grab Ragna."

...Jaune felt his blood go cold. He remember those beatings only too well and even if such treatment had earned him his first victory at the Academy, that was an experience he never wanted to have again in his lifetime. Turning to Pyrrha, he was horrified to see that it looked like she was actually considering it.

"Stretching… please…" he begged, his voice hardly a whisper.

"Good choice," Nora said with a smile before turning to Amane who was still expertly holding the pose. "He's all yours."

"Excellent darling," the dancer responded with an excited smile on his face. "And from the back… we go fowaaaaaard."

' _KILL. ME.'_

 _-Back with Team JACK-_

"Does anyone else hear screaming?" Kagura commented, pausing in his reading as he strained his ear to listen. All he heard was a series of knocking on the team's front door. "That must be Tsubaki and Noel…" Placing his book off to the side, he rose to his feet and opened the door only to find it wasn't the Yayoi heir waiting for him on the other side.

"Yo," Ragna said casually, his posture having a slight slouch to it as he waited outside the door. At first, Kagura figured he was standing with such informal posture because that was what he normally did and found that it would suit him just fine… but now, after classes, there were heavy bags under the Reaper's eyes indicating a lack of sleep. ...Something that Kagura had a sneaking suspicion towards.

"...Late night?" the Mutsuki heir ask, remembering the situation he and Ruby had come across a few nights ago.

"Not really, mostly just having trouble sleeping," Ragna told him, his tone too casual for it to have been a blatant lie. Looking past Kagura, he caught a glance of his brother who hadn't risen from his work just yet, even at his presence. "Jin, you got a minute?"

His older sibling's words sounded serious, so the blonde nodded as he made his way to his feet. Celica had finished combing and braiding her hair in a hurry as it looked like she had a lot to say to the Reaper, but a quick and authoritative glare from her leader told her that she should do otherwise. Closing the door to Team _JACK_ 's room and entering Ragna's own personal room, Jin took a small glance around his older brother's living arrangements, taking special note of the small bonsai tree as well as the small, untouched plate of _Atlas_ cookies that were likely several days old.

"So… what's this about then?" the ice user asked, not cruelly but with enough force that his brother wouldn't have any choice of backing out of this.

"Shit… I've been thinking about how to bring this up so much lately that I barely got any idea of where to start," Ragna began, not looking Jin straight in the eye as he mulled over the options. "We... we've never talked much about things _before_ our first home, did we?"

"...In truth there never really was much more to talk about," Jin told him calmly. "I was only four when we were rescued from that hellhole, so I barely have any memory of that place. Most of what I remember from our early childhood is the time we spent at our mother's church." His eyes narrowed into a small scowl. "...Celica though…"

"You see it too?" the Reaper asked, allowing their conversation to get sidetracked for only a moment since this too was an important subject.

"I can't help but notice the similarities to the woman who raised us, but she's too old to be her daughter." He shook his head. "I've asked Celica about her past on occasion, and the most I've understood is that she has some form of amnesia… it seems a little too _convenient_ if you ask me, even though she doesn't seem to be lying."

"...She seems to like me for whatever reason; not sure how I feel about that," Ragna admitted with a sigh, and Jin could only softly nod. "Back to what I was getting to though, I was out late a couple of nights ago."

"Right, Kagura mentioned that you weren't in your room then," Jin said as he thought back.

"Tch, couldn't keep his mouth shut about that, could he?" the Reaper muttered. "The truth is this wasn't the first time I've been out so late, I've been going out into the outlands every so often to hunt _Grimm_ , something to keep my skills up and such."

"...You could always come to me for a match one of these days," Jin advised, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Ragna retorted, a much snarkier smirk forming on his own lips. "But…" His face went to its familiar serious expression. "While I was out _that_ particular night, I found someone who was able to control the _Grimm_ with these weird gems. Not really sure how those things worked, but... they said they were part of _Project Grimm Eater_ _._ "

A long and pregnant silence.

"...And they weren't lying?" Jin asked.

"Would've been hard for them. That project wasn't exactly public knowledge and they knew enough to ask what my experiment number was," Ragna told his brother, his voice hauntingly toneless. "Also, the power boost that they got when they literally took a bite out of a _Grimm_ was more than a little telling."

"...I'm pretty sure that's different from how your powers are supposed to work," Jin said humorlessly. "What happened to them?"

"Dead. Had this self destruct part to that _Grimm_ controlling gem to keep 'em from talking. The only thing I was able to get was the name Salem, sounds like their boss or something." He sighed. "That mean anything to you?"

"I can't say that it does I'm afraid," the Ice user admitted. "...And here I thought that we were the only ones to survive that place."

"There's just too much about that shitstorm that I still don't know about, even after I scoped out the ruins during my travels," Ragna muttered before he shook his head. "I just thought I'd let you know, keep you in the loop since it concerns you."

"Since it concerns me?" Jin repeated, the slight edge in his voice made it seem like Ragna had said something wrong. "...Does it concern _Team RWBY_?"

"No, and I haven't told them anything about what I've been doing," the Reaper defended, wondering just where Jin was going to lie his accusations .

"...You should tell them," he finished, a suggestion that Ragna had never thought he'd hear from his brother. Get _RWBY_ involved with something? Was Jin feeling alright? Before Ragna could counter that observation, there was a small knock on his door.

"...It's open," Ragna told the person on the other side while giving Jin a look that told the blonde that this conversation wasn't over, The opening door revealed Noel and Tsubaki standing outside his small bedroom in their casual blouses and long skirts.

"Kagura told us that the two of you were talking with each other," Tsubaki said, the edge in her voice more one of worry for the situation than of aggression against the Reaper. "Are you oka... ready, are you both ready?"

"Both of us?" Jin asked as he turned to his brother. "You're coming today?"

"Yeah, Tsubaki invited me actually," Ragna told him, making Jin pleased that he'd asked his childhood friend to try and repair her relationship with the Reaper. Though…

"And when were you going to tell me?" Jin demanded from his brother, a slightly annoyed scowl in his eyes.

"Whenever your girlfriend decided to give you a heads up, I'd probably let you know five minutes or so after that," he told his younger sibling snarkily, tightening Jin's scowl, causing Tsubaki to roll her eyes, and putting a small blush on Noel's face at the girlfriend side of the comment.

"We should probably get going," Noel told them a little nervously, her feeling of discomfort towards both boys leaking through. "I don't want to miss Makoto and Mai when they get here."

"I doubt we'd ever be able to miss them with you…" Jin began to say, before pausing. It wasn't to stop himself from insulting Noel (though the fact that he did so was still noteworthy), but rather to gently grab his chin as he got an oddly thoughtful look in his eyes. "...Perhaps we should see if Team _RWBY_ would like to come with us, to meet the students from _Haven Academy_."

"Jin?" Tsubaki asked, surprised that he'd come up with such an idea. "Are you sure that's-?"

"I think the more the merrier!" Noel told him with a bright smile. "We'll go grab them!" Grabbing Tsubaki by the arm, she dragged her friend off to go and invite the potential newcomers. Tsubaki unable to retaliate or deny as she was still processing Jin's suggestion.

"...Alright, what the _hell_ was that?" Ragna demanded. "Even if there's less of a beef between all of us, you'd _never_ invite them with us and with that comment you made earlier… You're planning something."

"I am," Jin told him coldly. He made his way to the door, but with Ragna slamming it in front of his face and glaring harshly, it was clear he wasn't leaving without giving an answer.

" _ **Talk."**_

Even under his older sibling's aggressive tone and frightening visage, Jin didn't falter as he stared Ragna back, looking him square in the eye and refusing to blink. The two brother's gazes were so harsh anyone else in the room might've been crushed by the tension.

"...Don't think that just because I'm not actively try to stop you that I'm going to let you continue your stupid rush for revenge," Jin told him, leaving Ragna to grit his teeth as they were having _this_ conversation again. "The day I surrender my fight to stop you is the day you come to your senses and abandon that self-destructive hunt for good."

"Is that why you're bringing _RWBY_ along? Either I completely abandon what I've been trying to accomplish my entire life or you tell those four all of the dirty secrets of my past? That's your idea of stopping me?" the Reaper irately demanded. He didn't like threats from anyone, much less his own brother.

"You think I'd try something that petty? That plan is severely flawed and it's completely stupid." Jin's words did little to help their situation. "And more to the point, I don't have to go through with it… In fact I might not have to do anything when they're involved."

"What was that?" Ragna heatedly demanded as Jin opened the door to head out of the Reaper's room. "HEY!"

"Just ask yourself this brother; is chasing after a madman your entire life what you really want? Or are you just clinging to revenge because you're too cowardly to admit you want to stay with the people that care about you?" Ragna went uncomfortably still. His eyes widening as Jin attacked a part of his psyche he didn't even realize was still there. "As long as you're stopped... as long as you're _saved_ … I don't care who has to do it."

Even though it was already time the group to leave, Ragna couldn't move from where he stood as Jin slowly walked outside to join the others and closed the door behind him. Taking over a minute to recover from his shock induced stare, he looked to his gloved right hand and grit his teeth so hard a drop of blood emerged. He then looked to his desk at the small plate of cookies that Ruby had given him, one of the few gifts he'd ever gotten. They lay there untouched and had likely already gone stale… but that wasn't the point. Giving an almost feral growl as he headed over to the plate, he raised his fist and channeled a nightmarish energy into his arm causing his small shockwave to emit from his very person. He needed to start by destroying these if he wanted to cut off these damn distractions. Raising his fist, he yelled as he drove it downwards with enough force to create powerful winds…

...which was enough to push the accompanying note in front of his face.

' _Just… be safe, alright? I worry about you sometimes, all four of us do._

 _Your bestest friend,_

 _Ruby'_

He didn't move a muscle and the darkness continued to a terrible power around his arm body, his fist a hair's breadth from the plate. His heart was beating so hard that he could feel it in his ear drums. He started at the note a long moment, then another… gritting his teeth as he wanted to break Ruby's gift apart, just to convince himself that this was all just a means to an end… but he couldn't. The darkness dispelled, his arm dropped and all of the tension seemed to leave his body. His heart was still pounding like crazy, but he couldn't be bothered by it.

' _...What the hell am I even doing?'_

Taking one of the days-old cookies in his hand, he brought it up to his mouth and took a large bite out of it. It wasn't an easy thing to do; the cookies was so stale he had to work to get his teeth through it and the frosting on top of it had already spoiled. All of the flavors from the dough was gone and it felt cold as stone inside his mouth. All in all it was probably the worst thing he'd eaten in recent memory.

"...This tastes like ass," he muttered in disapproval at the item, but as went in for a second bite he was unable to stop himself from giving off a small smirk… and the single tear that came with it.

* * *

 _ **Grimm Reaper's of Remnant**_

 _Season One Finale_

 _ **Crimson XV: Black Reunion**_

"If you'd been any later, you would have made all of us miss the arrival," Weiss Schnee scolded as the group walked through the city streets. "And we're inside the city, did you really have to bring _both_ of your weapons with you? _Clarent_ I would've understood, but people are looking at that oversized hunk of steel you call a sword."

"...It didn't make any sense to leave it behind," Ragna told his from her side, his words uncomfortably hollow with Weiss.

"Ragna…" Blake tried, only to point to her own chin. "You've got crumbs all over your face."

"...Sorry, tried to get a snack in before I left," the Reaper said as he non-committedly wiped his face with his jacket's sleeve.

"Are those the cookies from Atlas that I gave you days ago?" Ruby asked, giving Ragna a big smile to try and cheer her friend up. "And you probably ate them while they were super stale. You might be a bigger cookie freak than I am."

"...As long as you're aware of it," Ragna muttered, not bothering to turn to Ruby or acknowledge her.

' _Alright, SCREW THIS!'_ Yang heatedly thought, not willing to let Ragna to be moopy for the day. "Hey, I sprained my ankle when I was training yesterday and it's starting to flare up…" As expected, he just gave her a gruff grumble. "So carry me, okay?"

"Carry y-? Gah!?" he grunted as Yang practically threw herself onto the Reaper's back, breaking him out of his demeanor and replacing it with only rage. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!? GET OFF!"

"Aw c'mon, it _really_ hurts," Yang said sweetly as she held tight while Ragna tried to throw her off. "You're already carrying that giant sword with you wherever you go; I won't add much more weight."

"Weight isn't the problem! We're in public damn it!" he shouted, attracting attention from just about every person in the square. Not he only could he feel the gazes full of public disdain, he could also clearly feel Yang's… _dragons._

"...Tsubaki?" Jin slowly began, turning to his childhood friend.

"Yes Jin?" she asked in turn, trying to keep her eyes off of the Reaper.

"Keep your head down, walk ahead, and we'll pretend we aren't affiliated with them."

"Understood."

"GET BACK HERE AND HELP ME YOU ASSHOLES!" Ragna shouted at his group of students as everyone tried to avoid association with the Reaper. "Yang, I swear to god…"

"Fine, fine," she said finally letting go and getting off of him (everyone still kept a respectable distance). "So… feeling better?"

"Not even close," Ragna told with a growl, his voice drenched with venom. "What the hell did you think that would accomplish?"

"Nothing much," Yang said to him casually before playfully tapping the Reaper's forehead with her knuckle. "Just keep in mind you're not allowed to be moody when you're around me…"

"I…" Ragna tried to say in response, only to have Yang cross her arms with a knowing smirk. "...Just don't expecting me to be all sunshine and rainbows."

"Aw, does baby need a kiss to make it feel better?"

"Kiss my ass," he harshly retorted, walking forward and keeping a safe distance from Yang… or as much as he could, she seemed be intentionally following him uncomfortably close by. "What's your-?" At that moment, he realized it wasn't just Yang following him closely by, but rather the entirety of _RWBY_ looking his way in concern.

"Seriously, what's with you?" Ruby asked, her arms crossed as her face was laced with worry for the Reaper. "I don't think I've ever seen you this moody before and… well…"

"That's saying something," Weiss finished bluntly for her team leader. "I want an explanation."

Hoping he'd get some form of support, Ragna turned to Blake… only for the Cat Faunus to look at him just as expectantly as Weiss was. Looking between the four of them, it became evidently clear that Ragna wasn't getting out of this by just brushing them off… but he didn't have an idea of what to really tell them.

"Well…" he tried to begin. "I…"

"Ah! To think I would see my steadfast ally of justice so soon!" came a loud an boisterous voice that caused Ragna to sweat; this could be the worst thing for him right now.

"H-Hey Bang," the Reaper began nervously as the Ninja joined the group, oddly carrying a wrapped bouquet of lilies.

"Steadfast ally of justice?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow at the title.

"It's a long story…" Ragna tried to deny with a cringe worthy smile, leaving all of the girls to know he felt guilty about something.

"And what the tale it is!" Bang said, clearly not getting the message, that Ragna wanted to keep quiet. "There I was, on the cold hard ground, wounded and nearly entrapped by a swarm of monstrous _Grimm_ and their dark master… With no time to recover I thought that night might be my last, but just as things looked their bleakest, this young man made his entrance and charged headfirst into a near army of fiends!"

"He's exaggerating…" Ragna tried to tell _RWBY_ as all of them looked his way in surprise.

"So…" Ruby began, getting uncomfortably close to the his face. Ragna grew worried that she was going to accuse him of something… before he noticed the sparkles in her eyes. "You actually managed to SAVE a _Huntsman_?" she squealed. "Sooooo cool!"

"Uh…" Ragna began nervously as Bang gave a hearty laugh beside him. "I mean…"

"So that's where you were that night," she said as the pieces started to fall into place. She then gave a girlish laugh. "And Kagura actually thought you were out with some girl!"

' _Why the hell does everyone think that's the most impossible thing that could happen?'_ a deadpanned Reaper thought to himself, not noticing as the three other faces of _RWBY_ seemed… oddly thoughtful.

"Ah, am I a witness in your case against _adultery?"_ Bang asked, leaving the younger scythe user to blush harshly.

"N-No! I'd never accuse Ragna of cheating on me! N-Not that we're close enough that it'd be considered cheating!"

"...Ouch," the Reaper said, his pride taking repeated harsh blows on this topic.

"Y-You know what I mean! You're my best friend!" Ruby screamed. Her face flushed completely crimson. She turned desperately to the rest of her team. "Feel free to step in guys…"

"Are you kidding? I'm starting to wish we'd brought popcorn," Blake denied, the scene before her even better than her newest novel. Her embarrassment hitting its peak, Ruby pulled her hood over her face and hid behind Ragna, the Reaper giving a sigh as he slowly patted his shorter friend's covered head.

"As good it was to catch up, I'm afraid I must be headed to the port Bang told the group before looking at the flowers and eagerly smiling. "MY BELOVED AWAITS!" Before anyone could question his words, the ninja took off in high speed sprint and was quickly gone from view.

"That… _man_ seems to be quite the character…" Weiss tactfully decided.

"That's one way to put it," Ragna agreed, scratching the back of his head. "I sure as hell don't get him."

"...You mind clearing something up for us?" Yang asked. With everything else already working against him, Ragna just gave a sigh and a shrug. "So about your attitude… Does he have anything to do with it?" Under normal circumstances Ragna might've lied… but he decided that they at least deserved a partial answer.

"Nah, it...It was an… idea Jin brought up to me before we left." Ragna's words gave his friends a reason to scowl at Jin's thinking or to show concern concern that he was so affected by said ideas, so Ragna tried to come to his brother's defense. "Don't hold it against him, he's just trying to look out for me… in his own way."

"Yeah, and we're looking out for you too," Yang reminded, clearly she was in the 'scowl' category. "And I'm pretty sure our way's a lot nicer."

"I know…" the Reaper said with another sigh. "...He's counting on it."

"He… he is?" Blake asked. She was going to question him further, but that's when she noticed Ragna's expression. It wasn't one of her harsher ones telling them too drop it, but it would be hard to see how uncomfortable he was with the situation. "Ragna.. you know that if you want to talk about this or anything, we'll always listen… you've done the same for us."

"Trust me, I can't forget that," the Reaper said. Unlike normal times he wasn't giving them a snarky or even sarcastic smirk, now he was giving them a smile; just a sad, small, but understanding smile. "Come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

"If you say so…" Weiss told him, following closely behind the Reaper. ' _What's got him like this that he can't talk to us? And what's going on between him and Jin to keep him this way?'_

"...You know, about that piggyback ride…" Yang began with a flirty smile. Ragna reasonably expected her to start teasing him again and growled. "Hey, at least I'm asking you first this time. Besides, why wouldn't you want to?"

"Because if I started doing that, people would start thinking I'm your boyfriend," Ragna told her realistically.

"Hey, I don't think it's that bad of a mix-up actually," Yang told him with a with a quick jab to his shoulders.

"If that's your opi… wait, what?" Ragna asked, his face turning as nearly red as his coat as the implication behind Yang's words truly dawned on him.

"You heard me," Yang told him in a teasing voice as she walked ahead of the Reaper, whistling a jolly tune to herself as she walked. Ragna was at a loss of words. Behind him, Ruby was silent for a moment before leaping onto his back which sent her hood off her head. Blinking several times before turning to Blake who just gave him a smile and shrug and Weiss who only smirked wickedly as she gestured for him to move on… understandably, Ragna was starting to feel a little whipped.

 _Meanwhile -Port-_

"We… we can't have missed them, can we?" Noel asked nervously aloud as she walked through the port with Jin, Tsubaki, Celica, and Kagura. Despite Noel's best efforts to arrive early, the ship had arrived early and was already in Vale Harbor. Aside from the occasional worker there, the harbor was empty and it seemed like most of the passengers on the ship had already left. "D-Didn't their letter tell us to meet them in front of the ship?"

"Quit your worrying," Jin told the other blonde harshly. A slight look of disapproval from Tsubaki reminded him that he'd promised to treat Noel with a little more leniency. "If Makoto's letter said to meet them here, they'll be here… Likely with an insane-"

" _ **Squirrel Power!"**_ came a booming voice from atop the ship. As the four looked up, they saw a silhouette outlined by the sunset. With a powerful bound, the figure leaped into the air, flipped forward several times, and landed on the dock floors in front of a startled Noel. "Happy to see me?"

"M… M… Makoto!" Noel screamed happily as she rushed to embrace her longtime friend. Makoto had brown eyes and hair which matched perfectly with the large squirrel poking out from beneath her long black traveling cloak. Though you couldn't see them under her small black cap,she also had a matching pair of matching Faunus ears.

"Aw Noellie, it's great to see you too," Makoto said as the two girls embraced. While they were hugging, she seemed to notice her other friend from the academy standing off to the side and smiling; that was going to stand with her. "Tsubaki! Get over here you!"

"No no Makoto, I'm perfectly alright-" She wasn't given a chance to finish as Celica helped to push the fellow redhead into both the reunion and Makoto's crushing group hug. She smiled while trying not to cringe at the force between the two girls embracing her. "It's great to see you again."

"And it's great to be here! We wouldn't want to have missed this meet up for anything!" she told them both. "Speaking of which…"

"Makoto!" a voice called from further down the docks. "Where on earth did you go when-" A young lady with long blue hair done into a ponytail, wearing a red long coat, and carrying a long red spear on her back came into view. She only had to take one look at the group in front of her before smiling and rushing into the embrace. "Hey you both!"

"Welcome to Vale, Mai!" Noel said eagerly as the other traveler entered the embrace. "I can't believe you're both here!"

"Well it wasn't easy to convince _Haven_ to let us split up from our team and head over early as representatives for the upcoming tournament," Makoto began as the embrace ended. "But you know us, we'll always find a way."

"Yeah, I've come to expect that from the both of you," Kagura said from the sidelines with a cocky smirk on his face. "What, don't I get a hug?"

"As if! You'd just use that as a chance to cop a feel!" Makoto shouted with disdain, apparently used to the womanizers antics from past experiences.

"Heh heh, I guess you know me pretty well," Kagura told them with a smile.

"That's not something to be proud about you perv!" Makoto shouted yet again.

"...Heh."

"Do my squirrelly ears deceive me? Is Jin Kisaragi actually chuckling at something?"

"Don't think anything of it, you all were just being too ridiculous," Jin told her, though now he had to make an _effort_ not to smile.

"We haven't met before, but my name's Celica," the outlier said to the both of them with a welcoming smile. "Nice to meet you both!"

"Nice to meet you too!" Mai said with a happy smile.

"As nice as this is for the lot of you," Jin coolly began. "Are you both sure it's alright to leave the rest of your team back in the _Haven?_ "

"I think they'll be okay without us for a little bit; they'll be here in time for the tournament at least," Mai explained before turning to Kagura. "Oh, Hibiki sends his regards as well."

"Hibiki, right…" Kagura repeated, his confident persona now replaced with bit of an awkward take on the Mitsubishi heir. It didn't last long though as the reunited group heard a series of footsteps quickly approached them.

"Sorry, we're late… didn't mean to take that long," came Ragna's voice as the Reaper headed into the scene followed closely by Team _RWBY_.

"Dude, either you made an extra stop or you're the slowest walker I've ever heard of," Kagura told them with a groan, though he did notice the small stink eye Yang and Weiss were directing at Jin.

"Bite me," the Reaper told him of nonchalantly as he stood with a bit of a slouch to greet the newcomers. "Yo."

"New guy, eh?" Makoto asked as she tried to get a good look at the Reaper. "Red coat, spiky hair, actually willing to stand within three feet of somebody... It's like someone made you to be the exact opposite of Jin."

"Makoto…" Jin began with a tested voice. The Squirrel Faunus just had to take on single look at Jin's complexion to realize she'd said something wrong. "Allow me to introduce you to Ragna the Bloodedge… _my older brother_."

' _She's not wrong though,"_ Yang thought wistfully as Makoto gave a terrified and guilty laugh. "I'm Yang Xiao Long, I'm on Team _RWBY_ which is lead by my little sis Ruby, who's on Ragna's back." From behind her perch on Ragna, Ruby gave a big smile and a wave while Ragna tried to convince himself he wasn't doing something completely wrong here.

"I'm Weiss Schnee, and on behalf of the Schnee corporation I'm happy to welcome you both to the kingdom of _Vale_ and to _Beacon_ Academy."

"Weiss, you know we're trying to keep this casual don't you?" Ruby asked, earning a small chuckle from Mai and Ragna while the Schnee heir sent her a fierce glare. "Sorry about that, she gets like this sometimes. And lastly on this side we've got-"

"Blake?"

"Eh?" Ragna grunted as Ruby was interrupted by Makoto. Glancing between the two he was made aware of how quiet Black had kept during introductions (he'd assumed most of that was attributable to her normally standoffish nature).

"You know each other?" Yang questioned her partner, not having heard such information herself.

"It's… it's old history, we knew each other when we were kids," Blake said, apparently not up for revealing much more than that. Yang looked like she wanted answers, but fortunately for Blake Ragna decided to step in.

"So who's hungry? I know that I'm starved," Ragna quickly commented, breaking any building tension. "Maybe we can catch dinner back at _Beacon_ if we hurry."

"Or maybe I could try cooking again," Noel suggested eagerly, much to Ragna's dismay. "I've been reading a lot about cooking, so maybe I can show you all what I've learned so far."

"That's a… _kind_ suggestion," Blake said awkwardly, remembering what had happened last time she'd gotten too close to Noel's style of cuisine. "But I think Ragna's idea is-"

"I'd love some of Noel's cooking!" Mai blurted out, stopping Blake cold and almost making Ragna drop Ruby. "In fact I've been dreaming of it ever since we decided we were coming."

' _Dreaming about Noel's cooking? I'm pretty sure that's a nightmare by definition,'_ Ragna thought as Blake had trouble processing what Mai had just said.

"Much as I love the idea of cute girls cooking for me, I think I've already got a place for us in town," Kagura told them before smirking. "And I'm even willing to treat since this a special occasion."

"Knowing you that means we're probably headed to a hostess club," Jin muttered. "Still, I suppose I can't complain over a free meal, so thank-"

"Treat the lovely ladies, that's what I meant to say," Kagura interrupted, sending both Ragna and Jin a shit-eating smirk. "Sorry 'bout that, but both of you are still paying."

"DICK MOVE! That's a total dick move!" Ragna shouted while Kagura gave a small chuckle at his expense.

"There's no reason to overreact, I'll be able to treat you," Weiss offered sweetly, a little too sweetly for Ragna's liking.

"And let _Blackmail_ Weiss have us in her pocket? Think I'll take the bill," he told her with a glare of due suspicion.

"Don't call me that! You're giving everybody here the wrong idea!" Weiss shouted, getting right up in Ragna's face and causing him to take a step back at her force. "Besides, Yang blackmails you more than I do."

"Um… are you defending yourself or admitting to it?" Celica asked with a sweatdrop and a small smile.

"Either way, I say we get going; the restaurant's going to get busy soon and I'm not sure easily they're going to be able to seat all twelve of us without a reservation," Kaura suggested. He then gave a polite bow and his best charming smile. "If you lovely ladies would be kind enough to follow me, I'd be happy to show you to our dining extravaganza for the evening."

With that (and a hearty eye roll from Makoto) the group started to head out from the docks and followed behind the Mutsuki as he lead them towards his ideal place of dining. Much like he'd been doing for much of the day already, Ragna stayed towards the back of the group. Also like had happened for most of that day, he couldn't stay completely to himself… though he was surprised on who was deciding to keep him company this time around.

"So… what do you think of them?" Tsubaki Yayoi asked her partner and team leader, this being the first time she'd spoken directly to the man in quite a while. Normally she'd be kept busy with Jin or talking with her reunited friends, but Jin was continuing to stand off to the side while Weiss and Yang talked with Makoto and Mai. Blake of course remained silent on sides while Ruby continued to hide behind Ragna with her hood covering her embarrassed face.

"I mean they seem alright," Ragna told her with a shrug. "...But is Mai suicidal? I know Noel's your friend and all, but you've seen her cooking… Hell, you tried to kill me with it once."

"That I did," Tsubaki said to him, not surprising the Reaper much as she didn't deny his last point. "Mai has this... quirk. Apparently she can taste the 'emotions' in the food she eats instead of the way it tastes itself and Noel's cooking is the only food with emotions that she can actually enjoy."

"Emotions in food? That's either a new concept to the world or the preachiest cooking advice I've ever heard," Ruby critiqued on Ragna's back. "Even still, how the hell does she keep it down? I'm pretty sure that stuff is toxic."

"I'll admit I don't understand it myself," Tsubaki told him. They walked in silence for a long moment as the group up ahead seemed to be getting further away. In fact, by now Ruby had finally gotten off of Ragna's back and had run up ahead to talk to Makoto and Mai… leaving Ragna behind to walk at Tsubaki's pace. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead, can't promise I'll be able to give you a straight answer though," the Reaper told her with a sigh, knowing he'd already had to dart around a direct answer several times that day.

"Back during the _Grimm's Day_ dance, Jin told me that you'd suggested he ask me to the dance," the red head told him, leaving Ragna to only give her a slow nod. "My behavior towards you even after the entrance exam has been nothing but hostile, so why did you ask him to take me?"

"Because I thought you'd both like it if he did? I dunno, just seemed like an okay idea the time," Ragna muttered running a hand through his silvery hair. "If I was thinking selfishly, maybe because I thought it'd put you in a better mood at the very least."

"Well Jin did ask me to be a bit kinder to you while we were at the dance, so I suppose you accomplished something," Tsubaki told him honestly.

"...So if he hadn't there'd be a knife in my back right now?" Ragna asked, earning a scowl from his partner at the insinuation. "...I guess I've been a pretty shitty team lead, so I can't pin all of the blame on you. I'll be moving back into the team room soon enough, think we can just try to grin and bear it when it comes time for that?"

"That seems reasonable," Tsubaki told him and the two nodded in agreement. "But I'm afraid I have one last request."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"Even if I did enjoy myself that night, don't try to push Jin and I together," she told him. "I… I care about Jin, I won't deny it… but even still… it could never work between us."

"If that's what you want, I'll keep my nose out of it," the Reaper promised with a shrug. "'Sides, Jin's grown enough to where he can make his own damn choices about about these things…"

"...You're actually proud of him, aren't you?" Tsubaki asked, the smallest of smiles forming on her face. Ragna didn't answer her immediately, only scratching his head as he embarrassedly averted his gaze. He had to admit though, even when considering all of the crap that she'd given him and the uphill battle the two had to work past it… Tsubaki actually had a cute laugh.

 _Meanwhile -Hidden Location-_

Roman Torchwick was not a happy man. He didn't care for surprise guests at the best of times and this was not one of those times. These guests would often mean that he'd have to put whatever business venture he was planning on hold so they could say their bit and eat up critical time that he needed. It could also mean that they were a member of _that_ group, someone that he was hesitant to accept a meeting from even with all of this beefed up security. Worst of all it could be an individual that he genuinely disliked… This individual met all three of his grounds for intolerance and countless more.

"Do you just happen to have hard boiled eggs waiting in stock, or did you make these especially for me?" a tuxedo savvy green haired man as with a pleasant smile as he swallowed one of the peeled eggs whole. "I haven't been hit on that many times, but I'd have to say this is the closest that anyone's ever gotten."

"That's obviously not the reason we keep them," the mod boss said, too tense to even light one of his cherished cigars. "They make good provisions in needier times… and one of my men knows how to make a killer egg salad."

"Seems like a waste with these delicacies, but who am I to judge?" the guest said, taking another of the eggs and swallowing it whole. "So… how are things going on your path?"

"You made a point to come all this way just to ask me that?" Torchwick demanded, unable to keep his eyes from giving a sharp scowl.

"...Even if I did, a distance like that means nothing if it means I can check on you giving the good fight," the suit wearer continued… before giving a grin so sharp it could cut steel. "When you aren't being thwarted by starry-eyed children and past their prime teachers at least." He knew Roman hadn't made the event that personal… so he had to try and _make_ it personal.

"...Care to explain what you're really doing here? I have an important series of operations to run and we have a key objective to prepare for not long off," the mob boss explained, not appearing to have been affected by the words. The figure seated before him simply shrugged and adjusted his hat.

"I'm here to give you a warning about said job, I have reason to believe that a certain someone is here and that they're on they can likely cause a risk to your operation… if they're not outright here to stop it." Reaching inside his coat, he procured a single photo which he tossed to Torchwick… and watched his associate balk at the image.

"I'm supposed to watch out for… for this?" Roman said, staring at the picture and trying to see if there wasn't a hidden message in it. "Are you sure you're not just pulling my leg?"

"I'm hurt you'd even suggest such a thing, truly I am," the person said taking the last of the eggs and giving it a chidding wave. "I mean, you're free to think whatever you want to… but you got stomped by a shrimp in a hoodie already; get beat out like that a second time and we might think you have a limit to your uses."

"...If they're such a threat, why don't you and help me?" Torchwick demanded as he threw the picture back, only for it to be impaled through a butterfly knife.

"Because that would ruin the one of _my_ irons in the fire, and while I can't say it's my most important iron… it might as well be the one that has the best chance of keeping me entertained down the road." the enigma told him with a smile as he rose to his feet; their business evidently concluded. "But I'm sure you're owed a few favors for extra men aren't you? I know I can count on you to find your own way out of this."

"...I'll find additional manpower somewhere," Torchwick promised as he also rose to his feet. The enigma was about to step out of his makeshift office and finally put an end to this meeting… but once more the figure just had to stop before stepping out, almost as if they knew the discomfort that they were causing and were enjoying it.

"This is nice, we should meet like this more often… you just seem to _love_ my company," the figure said as they turned back with a smile. He _was_ enjoying this and Torchwick hated that fact. " _We'll meet again~ Don't know where, don't know when~ But I know we'll meet again some sunny daaaaay!"_

' _Dammit…"_ Torchwick groaned to himself as the door finally closed behind him. Reaching for one of his prized cigars, he lit the object and let the collection of flavors dance on his tongue before letting out a quit puff of smoke. ' _Tenacious, tactless… and now even tone deaf. I can't stand that damn SNAKE!'_

 _Back with the students_

"Maybe we need to give Kagura some actual credit," Ruby said as she exited the restaurant, holding her stomach with a happy smile on her face. "This had to be the nicest place I'd ever eaten at."

"Same here, but I still wouldn't give him jack; his ego's already big enough as it is," Ragna the Bloodedge muttered, walking beside her with his hands in his pockets and a gruff slouch.

"You realize I can hear you, right?" Kagura asked, giving a sigh at Ragna's continued bluntness.

"And what do I care? You made it damn clear from the start that you weren't paying for my dinner with that crap you said back at the harbor," the Reaper told the Knight.

"Oh, in that case is it my turn to be showered in compliments since I paid in your stead?" Weiss Schnee asked sweetly, causing Ragna's complexion to start sweating. Sure he technically could have afforded the meal, what with the prize money he and Yang had been earning, but there was something about spending so much money on food that he didn't cooking that almost felt dirty to him. "Come on, let's hear a compliment from you then."

" _Yare yare…_ " Ragna grumbled at the demand… before seeming oddly focused as he mulled it over.

"Hey! It can't be that hard to think of something nice to say about me!" she yelled at him, causing her partner to snicker next to Ragna.

"Er…" While making quips and poking fun at people was fine, Ragna didn't do positive that often. "It's just…" Taking a deep breath, he gave his best replication of Kagura's charming smile (an act that was killing him inside) towards his fellow albino friend. "It's just that there are far too many good qualities of yours to list, where do I even begin?"

"...Okay, that's a _start_ , but you better think of something else before the night's out," Weiss told him coldly, a tone that was betrayed by the red upon her face. She tried to ignore Yang's burst of laughter as the blonde hit a sighing Ragna in the ribs, feeling hysterical at just how hammy her friend's delivery had been.

"Is that what everyone thinks I sound like?" a concerned Kagura asked from behind them.

"You've got no idea," Makoto told him, happy to stick it to her old classmate. "We should probably start heading for Beacon, we've got to get moving if we're going to catch one of the professors and get assigned our guest rooms."

"Actually, I'm not sleeping in my bed for…" Ragna began trying to come up with a solid excuse. "A… _Social Experiment_ suggested by Ozpin. Haven't slept in it for some time and its still got fresh sheets. It's up for grabs if either of you want that."

' _Honestly, at this point he's not even lying,'_ Blake thought to herself, knowing Ragna's abilities to give strange twists on the truth. "But then wouldn't they have to stay in the same room as… Azrael?"

"They'd get used to him eventually, wouldn't they…?" Noel asked, even she felt a little uncertain about her partner's behavior. Makoto and Mai didn't have any idea who Azrael was, or why the group was concerned for their well being because of him.

"By the by, where is Azzy today?" Ruby asked, looking up to her best friend.

"First off, I want you to be safe and promise me you'll never call him that to his face," Ragna warned, acting oddly protective about the young Huntress. "Second…"

 _Meanwhile -Back at the Academy-_

' _So this is how I'm supposed to spend my Friday afternoon,'_ Jaune thought to himself with a sigh as he lay beaten on the ground. After he'd finished his stretching with Amane (he was still surprised that his limbs hadn't snapped clean off), he team had moved him onto practicing weapon drills and had just finished with a few bouts of sparing. Even with all of Jaune's work, he hadn't come any closer to landing a hit on any of his teammates… though his defense still proved difficult to get through since Ragna had helped to train him.

"Ready to finish up?" Pyrrha Nikos asked as she stood over Jaune, looking over him with a sweet smile. Jaune gave a pained groan as he discovered that his team still had more planned for him even past all of the sparring the group had just done. "You don't need to worry Jaune, you'll be able to get through this next one nicely thanks to the guard that Ragna gave you."

"Didn't we… just work on that during sparring?" Jaune asked, slowly making his way to his feet through some strained effort. Pyrrha offered him a hand to help him rise to his feet. He didn't expect, not out of spite but rather to prove to himself that he could move forward on his own two feet. "So I just need to defend myself?"

"Yep! And to make things easier on you, we only need you to defend against attacks from one person!" Nora told him, letting Jaune give a deep breath of relief; this was doable.

"Alright, guess I can keep going…" Jaune told her, trying to show a slightly more confident side against his normal expressions. "So who am I defending against?"

"Come on out big guy!" Nora shouted.

"B… Big… Guy?" Jaune asked normally, right before large crash was heard from right behind him. Slowly creaking his head to turn behind him with a feeling of indescribable dread, before looking up to see the giant blue hair student's face.

"Hey there blondie," Azrael smirked harshly as he cracked his knuckles. "So you've got an interesting little defence there, don't you?" Jaune gave an audible gulp as his 'exhausted' sweat now became 'scared shitless for his life' sweat. "Let's see how many _taps_ it takes for me to break it."

"Ah… Ah… eep."

"Pyrrha?" a calm and cool Ren asked from the sidelines as he watched his team leader's life be thrown into dangerous territories.

"Yes Ren?" the redhead asked him.

"...I thought we were finishing training today with some sprinting exercise," he noted, remembering their original plan. "Because it looks like all we're doing is hope that Jaune survives an encounter with-"

" _ **HEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"**_

" _ **GET BACK HERE YOU!"**_

" _ **NOT ON MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!"**_

"...Ah."

 _Back to the Plot_

"Second… He said he was busy; didn't bothering to tell me what he was doing either," Ragna finally informed. "I get the feeling that he's been getting pretty hungry for some action as of late; action that he hasn't been getting."

"Him and me both," Kagura muttered, a statement that Ragna only gave a small cough at.

"ANYways, I think that we oughta start heading back to the Academy," Makoto said, trying to avoid what Kagura was implying as best as she could. "Trust me after the long day I had, what I want right now is a nice warm bed and maybe a shower if I have time."

"Yeah, we might as well call it a day…" Ragna muttered. "Most of us have already been through enough with classes and-"

"Hey you," a new voice interrupted, annoying the Reaper once more. Giving a scowl, he saw that they were being approached by two black tie and dark sunglasses wearing detectives of the Vale Police Force. Standing behind them were addition members of the force, these however were wearing better protective armor, had nightsticks at their sides… and guns on their backs.

"Can we help you with something officers?" Mai asked, keeping her steady composure around the local law enforcement.

"Yeah, we've got some questions here," one of the detectives said, looking around the group and searching for a certain something. "For her…" he pointed at Makoto. "... and her." He pointed at a scowling Blake. "The rest of you can go about your business."

"...Anything you want to ask these two, you can ask us," Jin told the officers, oddly standing up for his friends. "If anything, we might know things that they don't which will help your-"

"I said you can go about your business," one of the officers interrupted, cutting off advice from Jin that most people would find helpful. "Now I suggest you do that, before I write you up for interfering with police work."

"That's some messed up logic you've got there," Kagura told them. "Listen, we're just trying to-"

"Go on ahead," Blake interrupted the Knight, trying to be the voice of reason. "We'll answer their questions and meet up with you later…"

"I'd listen to this one," one of the detectives told the group. "Move along."

"This is the local law enforcement?" Tsubaki asked under her breath to Noel who only gave a worried shrug since they were leaving Makoto behind. The Beastkin noticed this and gave her friend a flirty smile to let her know she'd be alright. Despite the problems they had with this situation, the group decided to head the detective's warning and moved along to the academy… except of course for _one_ student.

"I told you to move along," the detective said as he adjust his glasses to try and look intimidating. "Or are you _trying_ to get written up?"

"Both of you made it clear that you wanted to talk to a Faunus," Ragna told her as he kept his arm crossed, the students who'd been walking away stopping to here what the silver haired Reaper was trying to say. "...I just happen to be a Faunus too."

"What? No you're not," one of the detectives told him with a scoff, not bothering to deny the first claim Ragna had made. "Now get out of here before-"

" _ **HMRRRRRRRR!"**_

With its volume, force, and intensity Ragna's feral growl caused both of the detectives to flinch back from the group. It was powerful enough to make the student's question a couple of things about Ragna themselves, as Ruby looked to Jin for confirmation. The blond subtly shook his head to deny his brother's words (an action neither of the startled detectives caught on to), but even he himself seemed surprised his older sibling could sound like this.

"...We don't get paid enough for this," the detective muttered, indicating that he'd at least bought Ragna's story, figuring it'd be more likely for a Faunus to disguise itself as a human than vice versa. Seeing as the two friends had a… _wild card_ backing them up, the rest of the students continued on their way. The officers waited until they were out of sight before finally turning to the three and beginning their questioning. "Watch the news lately?"

"With studying, we usually don't have the time," Blake asserted, keeping her tone neutral at the moment (she was glad to have Ragna backing her up here). "Why, what's going on in the city?"

"Several _Dust_ shops have gotten hit in the past week alone," the officer told her his foot giving an impatient tap, even though he was the one holding them back. "And you know what they all have in common? No money was taken from any of the cash registers, but they didn't leave a drop of dust wherever they hit." He lowered his sunglasses to look intimidating at the students. "Classic calling card of the _White Fang_."

"So you're racially profiling us?" Makoto asked bitterly. "That's some ass backwards logic if I'd ever heard it. And you never caught that Torchwick criminal, so maybe you should start trying to catch him instead of-"

"I'm asking the questions here!" the detective demanded, his tone charged and aggressive at the three of them. There wasn't anyone in the immediate area and Blake notice several of the other Force members had their hands staying dangerously close to their nightsticks. "Now I want to know, where were you three last night?"

"Studying before heading to bed, we've got plenty of people to confirm we were there," Blake told him as she gestured to Ragna, stepping in for his explanation.

"And I wasn't even here!" Makoto told the officers. "In fact I just got off the boat earlier to-"

"The boat from _Haven?_ " a detective said before bringing his men forward as all of them got their weapons out. "We got word that there were two Faunus stowaways on one of the ships… I'd say that we found the first one at least."

"That wasn't me!" Makoto shouted enraged. "I got here legally through academy transportation! I can even show you my ticket and-"

"Save it for the station, we're bringing you three in for questioning," the first detective said as he went for his radio to call for a car.

"You know, after seeing this it's not a big surprise that Torchwick's still on the loose," Ragna muttered, stopping the law enforcement cold. "You people have your heads so far up your own asses it's a wonder how you're able to call yourselves detectives."

"...Think you're funny, do you?" the detective said, swinging for Ragna's head with a left hook. The Reaper didn't even more to block, he knew that this guy was just trying to provoke him, get some actual dirt on him and get his ass arrested… but he also knew this guy couldn't hurt him either. He gave gave a smug smirk as-

 _ **CRASH!**_

" _ **GAH!"**_

Ragna's eyes shot open in surprise as the detective was blasted back into one of the armed officers. The collection seemed to be staring at the individual in awe while Ragna once again began to sweat nervously. Rising from the tackle, the individual rose to full height. Blake, Makoto, and all of the officer watched the mysterious figure as they stood uncomfortable still for one long moment. The figure's muscles then tensed up before going into a powerful lunge.

" _ **GOOD GUY!"**_

"DAMMIT TAO!" Ragna shouted though the pain as the hooded cat creature caught him in a bone crushing tackle hug. Tao was stronger than her thin frame would tell you as she managed to life the Reaper off the ground whilst squeezing the life out of him.

"What in the hell-?" one of the officers muttered before realizing the danger and quickly going for his walkie talkie. "All units- AUGH!"

"This wasn't how I wanted today to go," a new voice sighed, a blond young man with a open button up shirt and a monkey's tail. He'd leaped onto the second detective, stopping his communication and knocking him out of the conflict.

"SUN!?" Makoto shouted at the new arrival as the monkey Faunus gave a sudden shudder. "What are you- Why on earth- How did you-?"

"We've got new hostiles and they're with them!" one of the armed force officers shouted as the group rushed forward with their nightsticks. "Let's bring 'em all down and bring 'em in!"

"Huh? Are these people bothering you good guy?" Tao asked as she looked up from her tackle hug.

"Thanks to you they are!" Ragna shouted as he pushed the feline off of him. He got into a battle ready position, but since these were just regular (if idiotic and corrupt) officers of the law he kept his sword on his belt and prepared for an unarmed offensive.

"Okay!" the cat said happily as swiped paw upwards, uppercutting one of the security guards and blasting them off of their feet. "Tao's gonna beat the guys up so Good Guy will buy her lotsa yummy food!"

"I ain't paying for shit after you got me into this mess!" Ragna shouted as he spin kicked a guy into the air without much effort. Rushing forward, he then caught a second officer with a lunging punch that hit with enough force to cause the officer to crumple to the floor. With every swing of his fists or powerful kick he managed to score another knockout on an unsuspecting guard.

"You just HAD to antagonize them!" Makoto shouted as she threw her coat off, revealing her... revealing her orange battle uniform. Gathering power, she raised her fists and blasted another officer in the guy, sending him flying into the others.

' _She's… developed…'_ Blake thought to herself (with the smallest hint of jealousy) as she looked at Makoto's curves. Focusing back on the fight, Blake wasn't as developed at fighting unarmed as the others, but that didn't mean that the cat _Faunus_ didn't have a few tricks. Using her semblance, she made one of of the officers swing through her semblance before grabbing his arm and flipping him over, sending him straight onto the pavement.

Meanwhile, Sun was using both his natural agility and the inexperience of the officers to full effect. Leaping from head to head, he kicked off of the backs of one of the officers sending him crashing into one of his allies. Flipping forward with acrobatic prowess, he delivered an axe kick on another officers head and caused him to crumple.

Between the three students and the two newcomers, the law enforcement was soon on the ground and groaning from their injuries. Much like Ragna had hoped for, there were no serious injuries dealt to his opponents (light to harsh bruising at most) and he'd even managed to take care of the pent up aggression given to him by Jin. He gave the other's the smallest of smirks… but aside from Tao's joyful bouncing it was clear that they weren't feeling as victorious.

"This is just going to come back and cause more trouble for us, isn't it?" Blake muttered, crossing her arms with a sigh. "Just another card for the Faunus haters to use against us."

"Eh, most of everywhere I've been has had a pretty stacked deck already, so this isn't too big of a deal," Sun said before offering the Cat Faunus his hand. "Name's Sun Wukong, nice to meet-"

 _ **WHAM!**_

"Gah!" Sun grunted as Makoto hit in the gut with enough force to resemble a cannon explosion. Even Ragna had to flinch a little at that once as he felt the powerful shockwave the move emitted. Sun stumbled back from the burst gripping his chest and gasping for air as Blake watched both of them in surprise. "Guh… euh… what was that for…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Makoto said in a tone that made it clear that she clearly _wasn't_ sorry. "I'm just a little pissed that I almost got arrested after someone decided it would be a good idea to stow away to Beacon!" Sun gave a nervous gulp as he scratched the back of his head. "What the heck is the rest of your team going to do without you?"

"I dunno, something tells me they'll manage, I mean didn't you leave behind-?" Makoto's glare made sure that he didn't finish that sentence. "R-Right..."

"And if he's the first stowaway..." Ragna began as he expression became more serious as he looked at Tao.

"What's the matter good guy? Aren't you going to you going to buy me food?"

"Like hell, I'm going to. If you hadn't jumped in I could've-"

"Rrrgh…" came a low growl that stopped Ragna. The Reaper let out an exasperated breath as he saw the Detectives from earlier rising to their feet, along with whatever soldiers could still participate in the battle "Now you've gone and done it… Attacking officers of the law."

"...Self defence," Sun told the guard with a playful smile.

"Tao loves shellfish!" the Kaka warrior helpfully interjected.

"Quiet you," Ragna growled as he cracked his knuckles. The other detective went for his radio to call in reinforcements. As the others all readied switched their nightsticks out for their firearms for round two. Which served Ragna just fine as he-

"That's enough from the both of you," came a new voice that stopped Ragna's group and the Vale Police Force. Stepping forward was a man wearing a flawless white suit, combed over hair, and a powerful presence that would make people tense up even if they didn't know where it was. Standing behind him was a young orange haired girl in a white top which was covered by a a grey dress placed over her regular clothing

"Ge-Ge-General Ironwood!" both of the detectives sounded of in surprise as the security force behind them went immediately to attention. "We were just questioning these Faunus about a series of crimes in the area in the area before they attacked us! These streets aren't safe sir, I'm telling you."

"And firing police commissioned stun rifles on these five would solve that problem?" Ironwood returned with a glare, that caused both soldiers to shut up. "I'm glad that you're so confident in Vale's weaponry, but your methods would cause more harm than any of our technology could repair." He then glanced at Ragna, who wasn't faltering under his gaze. "Besides, if you were hoping to question Faunus, why bother him?"

"He… he…" one of the detectives began before looking at the Reaper. "You said…"

"Yeah, and you bought it as soon as I growled once," Ragna returned, disappointingly shaking his head. "Some detectives you are."

"Err," growled one one of the detectives as his partner seemed just as annoyed at Ragna's insult.

"That's enough from you; even if you were provoked there was no reason this needed to escalate so far," Ironwood told the Reaper sternly, his presence causing all pairs of eyes to be directed his way. "Even still, no serious harm seems to have been done to either party so I suggest we leave this mess here. The students will be free to go and I won't have to report the police force's excessive actions to their supervisors… that seems like a fair agreement."

"B-But sir, two of them are still stoyways that got here through unlawful means," one of the detectives tried to protest. "We still have a job to-"

"You mean the two that already left?" Ragna interrupted, glancing behind him. The officers and the detective glanced that way as well, surprised that Sun and Tao had already left the scene like the two hadn't even been their to begin with.

"Wh-when did they-?"

"I believe it was when Ironwood was speaking," the girl in the skirt finally said, though something about her voice felt wrong to Ragna. "Should I have said something?"

"No, these men have bigger worries on their mind," Ironwood said, glaring at the VPF. "Namely who's causing such distress to the local shopkeepers, isn't that right?" He didn't get a response. "I'd like for the three of you to follow me… I have questions for you."

"Yeah yeah," Ragna said nonchalantly, earning a elbow to the ribs from Blake for his rudeness. The three then left with Ironwood and the enigmatic girl, leaving the losers to pick up their men and try to save face from their loss. It wasn't long before they were out of hearing range from the officers. "So…"

"Don't make do that again," Ironwood told him sternly. "I'm here as a guest and I have too much work to attend to on business to worry about you. My reputation can only keep you out of trouble for so long."

"Tch, those assholes were asking for it," Ragna told him back, Ironwood's status not holding his vulgar mouth back in the slightest. "...Does Jin know you're here?"

"I didn't inform him, as I said I'm here on business," the general responded as he crossed his arms. "...I wasn't expecting your master to send you Ozpin's way."

"Neither was I, but that's how it turned out James," Ragna said with a sigh. Calling the Valeian by his first name was met with surprise from Blake and Makoto and another stern glare from Ironwood himself. Ragna didn't care as he redirected his attention to 'James's' companion. "Who's she?"

"Greetings and salutations," the girl said, her smile and movements strangely exaggerated. "I am Penny. I am here to participate in the tournament."

"Seriously? Hope you're ready for a challenge then," Makoto promised. "I'm Makoto, hope to see you there."

"Blake," the cat Faunus said simply before gesturing to the Reaper. "And this is Ragna, leader of team _RAIN_."

' _So Jin's not on his team,'_ Ironwood thought to himself, mulling over the information. "Stay out of trouble." These words were directed squarely at Ragna, who only shrugged in response. "Penny, we're leaving."

"Of course," she said before bowing deeply. "It was nice to meet all of you. I hope to see you again."

"You… too…" Ragna said awkwardly as the General and Penny left. "Now that that's out of the way I should find Tao and figure out just what she's doing here."

"And I've still got to give Sun a lecture about sneaking his way here when this is supposed to be _my_ trip," Makoto said as she moodily crossed her arms. "So any ideas of how to find them?"

"Just keep an ear out for the closest growling stomach, that'll be Tao for certain," Ragna told her both looking over at a restaurant. "Or…"

"Or…?" Blake began, not sure what Ragna was planning as he stepped into the building, leaving her alone with Makoto.

"So… how long ago did you-?"

"Not very long," Blake finished, clearly not wanting to go into it.

"How did A-?"

"Probably not well, and the less I think about him the better," she interrupted again, this time giving a small scowl.

"Won't bring it up then," Makoto promised before smirking. "So to change the topic like you wanted, what's the story between you and Ragna?"

"Not what you're thinking, obviously!" Blake told her off, a slight blush on her cheeks as Makoto only laughed.

"Come on don't tell me you're still reading those books that I-"

"O-Of course not, I've forgotten all about those things!" she shouted, which was painfully obvious to Makoto that it was a lie. "...So what's that story about you and Sun?"

"If you're asking if we're a thing, we're not," Makoto told Blake. "He's a nice guy and all, but we're on seperate teams and have next to no classes together… besides, I'm already spending way too much time on homework and working under-"

"I'm back!" Ragna interrupted, coming out of the restaurant with a paper bag in his hands, filled with steaming food.

"We're supposed to be looking for Sun and Tao, not getting a second dinner," Blake told him with a disappointed sigh. "Besides, what are you trying to do with those-?"

"MEEEEEEEEEATBUUUUUUUUNNNS!" came a shout from above them as Tao dived down towards Ragna. She'd almost caught him, and likely would have had Ragna not sidestepped her dive and leave her to painfully faceplant into the ground next to him as he took one of the meat buns and began munching on it. "Good guy! Don't hog all of your food to yourself meow!"

"You're lucky I even let you smell 'em; most people wouldn't give you the crumbs after the crap you pulled. More to the point, where's Sun?"

"No idea!" Tao said joyfully as she made swipe for the bag which Ragna expertly dodged as he took another bite out of one of the buns. "Neow, really! He split up with Tao after we met Meowrm-wood."

"That's… Ironwood," Blake told her, a little insulted of Tao's workage of meow into her sentences.

"Whatever, I get the feeling that guy can handle himself and I doubt any cop here is going to get close enough to him. Let's figure out what to do about him later," Ragna muttered as he glared down at his old acquaintance. "What I want to know is what _you're_ doing here; last I heard anything you and Tora were supposed to be traveling through Haven's forests."

"We were, meow!" Tao told him. "But big sis Tora said Tao had to come here to…" For once, Tao stopped in her bouncing and down so no one could see her face. "...Tao isn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Oh well, more meat buns for me," Ragna said before finishing the meat bun he'd already started, liking the tips of his gloved fingers afterwards, just to prove a point to the silent cat. He then grabbed a second meat bun and slowly opened his mouth as it neared his face.

"Guh… Ugh… Hugh…" Tao strugged, hoping that her will would hold out against the sweet smell of the meatbuns and her growling stomach. "It's the _White F-MPPPHHHH!_ "

With Ragna's reaction time, he was able to realize just what the cat had been about to say and had stopped her in the nick of time with her meatbun. Blake and Makoto's eyes grew wide as they stared at each other in shock.

"And… Tora knows they're here?" Ragna asked as he held the meatbun in place. Tao nodded quickly, before she began munching on the meatbun keeping her from speaking. "And what are you supposed to do when you find them?" Tao put both of her paws up, her universal sign that she didn't know. "...So those cops weren't just blowing hot air after all."

"We… we don't know that for sure," Blake said, leaving Ragna to raise an eyebrow as Tao continued chomping down. "For all we know, this Tora person just doesn't know that they're here… or they could be here with a protest."

"If they're protesting, Vale's not the place to be doing it," Ragna told her. "They'd get much more attention if-" _**CHOMP!**_ "Gah! Dammit Tao! You BIT me!"

"But I'm still hungry!" Tao shouted, eyeing Ragna's bag of buns. The Reaper wasn't done with her just yet, so he instead tossed her a single meatbun from its folds.

"Look Blake, I can't tell myself that there's not _any_ chance that they wouldn't do this," Makoto tried to tactfully tell her friend. "I want to believe in them… but they've been doing some pretty sleazy things lately."

"I know that, but…" Blake tried to say. She was in denial, trying to come up with a reason for their actions. Trying to find a way where the _White Fang_ weren't the terrorists the world was making them out to be.

"Let's… just call it a day…" Ragna muttered before glancing at Tao who continued to eye the bag full of meat buns. "You want this, don't you?" Tao's eager nod was so rapid that Ragna was afraid her head might come off. "Fine, but you find Sun and stick with him. Got it?"

"Got it good guy! You can count on Tao!" Taokaka told him with a spunky salute.

"...I gotta wonder that sometimes," the Reaper muttered as he tossed Tao the package which she expertly caught before bounding down the streets with her meal in tow. "Come on, I think you should let Noel and the others know where we've been."

"Right…" Blake sighed. Under normal circumstances, Ragna might have pushed her for answers… but given all of the secrets he was keeping, that was far from fair.

 _That Night_

' _If I can't fall asleep anyways, maybe I should've gone out and hunted,'_ Ragna thought to himself in annoyance as he walked down the empty hallways of the academy wearing nothing besides a black turtleneck shirt, red pants, and his casual sandals. It was approaching midnight and Ragna's body knew that he needed every minute of sleep that he could get… his damn mind just wasn't cooperating. Makoto and Blake had already returned to their friends to tell them what had happened that day (or as much as they were willing to divulge) so Ragna left them both with that. From what he'd heard, both Makoto and Mai had taken refugee in his team's room for the night since no one could get ahold of Ozpin, not even Goodwitch (she had snapped at Ragna when he'd sarcastically informed that she ought to know where Oz was since she was his nanny). Since there was no one out this late at night, he had the campus to himself in his stroll… or so he'd thought.

' _Sounds like someone's in the training room,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he heard the sounds of a blade being repeatedly swung through the air in a rhythm. Sighing to himself, he decided he should put a stop to whoever was in there before Goodwitch managed to find a 'volunteer' for mopping the next day. Opening the door, he found Jaune in the center of the room, swinging his sword as the sweat dripped down from his brow as Pyrrha silently watched him with a smile on her face resembling that of a proud mother… Ragna figured. "You both seem to be having a late night."

"We're not the only ones," Pyrrha noted as Ragna's voice caused Jaune to give a startled jump. She waved it off, telling him that she'd spare him from Ragna's training regimine. Giving a sigh of relief, Jaune went back to focusing on his sword swings and thrusts. "What's keeping you awake?"

"...Busy day, and my mind's having trouble slowing down," the Reaper informed her, giving her another of his half-truths. Crossing his arms, he rested against the wall as Jaune continued to practice. "How long's he been at this?"

"Since classes ended today, so for quite a while," Pyrrha explained as she watched Jaune, her smiling still present. "He even kept practicing while the rest of us were at dinner; seems like someone's lessons increased his endurance."

"Good to hear it," Ragna said passively as he tried to convince himself that he was tired and that he needed to nod off. He wasn't and this starting to get on his nerves. "So… any reason that you don't have Goodwitch in here sticking you both with mopping duty?"

"I'd asked her for additional time when she was about to close it; she told us just to lock up before we left and everything would turn out fine." Ragna groaned as it sounded like he was getting singled out. "She also mentioned some about _not breaking back in_."

"Fair enough," Ragna sighed as he continued to watch Jaune swing. "When are you going to stop him?"

"I won't," she told Ragna before calling to Jaune. "A little higher on the second swing, you'll cover more ground and have an easier time working on your balance." Nodding back to her, Jaune made the suggested adjustments and continued practicing the routines. "I told him that he'll stop once he's decided he's done enough training for today and he hasn't given a word of stopping since… apparently this is the easier part of his training."

"And he thought I was sadistic," Ragna muttered, trying to conjure a small smirk.

"Because you definitely are; not having to train with you again is how they're trying to motivate me and it's working," Jaune told him, grunting between the words as he continued to practice a series of swings.

"...Tch, smartass," the Reaper muttered, though now he was able to get that smirk out. Pyrrha only giggled as Jaune continued to swing his weapon. "So… I saw the two of you dancing at the party… does that make the two of you a thing now or-?"

"Ragna!" Jaune yelled as he turned to the Reaper, his face flushed red with a mix of exhaustion and of embarrassment.

"Get back to training Jaune, I can handle him," Pyrrha assured him. Jaune tried to say something in response, but her beaming smile convinced him to get back to training. "Can you keep a secret?" The Reaper slowly nodded. "Don't tell anyone this… but I'm actually heading back with Jaune during the break to meet his family."

"...Damn, kid's got bigger stones than I thought," Ragna crassly complimented.

"I-It wasn't my idea!" Jaune shouted before Pyrrha pointed and instructed him to keep swinging. "My mom… she caught wind that Pyrrha wasn't able to get a ticket home… so she invited her over… that's what happened."

"What about you?" Pyrrha asked.

"What about me?" Ragna rhetorically answer before seeing that Pyrrha wasn't backing down without an answer. "I didn't make any plans to go anywhere and there's nowhere I could really go… maybe I'll just hang here for now."

"It's not like you'd be alone; Ren would still be here." Ragna gave a shrug at that suggestion. "The rest of us barely talk to him; if it wasn't for Nora I'm pretty sure you'd be his best friend."

"That's… a deeply depressing thought," Ragna muttered, only for the redhead to roll her eyes.

"Since you asked Jaune and I earlier, I think it's only fair that I ask about your love life." Jaune missed a step in his swing and nearly fell over at his partner's suggestion. Ragna could only grit his teeth. "Come on, what you say in here won't leave this room."

"Fine then, you caught me!" he bit at her with a sarcastic voice. "I'm a complete harem master and I've been dating all of _RWBY_ at some point or another! Sometimes all five of us go and-!"

"Don't go on! I get it!" Pyrrha tried to tell him, raising her hands cautiously. "That's a do not press issue!"

"At least someone can take a hint…" Ragna muttered as he thought back.

" _Hey Ragna! How does it feel to be dating Ruby when she's so innocent and you're so… you?"  
_ " _Is Weiss Schnee really as shallow as she looks? ...Are you just in it for the money?"  
_ " _I hear that he nibbles on the tips of Blake's ears when they're alone and calls her his 'little kitten.'"  
_ " _So how big are Yang's-?"_

All four of the questions ended up with someone inside a wall and every time Ragna would be caught by Goodwitch and sentenced to another day of mopping floors. And these were the ones that were brazen enough to suggest such things within earshot. He was sure that there were plenty of people that whispered and gossipped about him beside his back… in fact, Azrael had offhandedly told him about such conversation once or twice.

"In that case, can you at least tell me what you really think about each of them?" Pyrrha asked him, leaving Ragna to remain within his thoughts. "Ragna?"

" _Come on! They're supposed to be offering really awesome cookies in the mess hall today!" a beaming Ruby Rose had shouted as she'd dragged Ragna by the arm, rushing him to the lunch room with her semblance. "Don't fall behind now!"_

" _You have to stop being so rigid every step you take," Weiss once sighed as the two practiced their dancing, looking at Ragna sternly. "Just relax and move like it's natural… I promise I won't judge you."_

" _You don't have to pick a fight with every person that gives me a dirty look" Blake said a short time ago, a day out in the city where Ragna had just cracked his knuckles to a group that was giving Blake clear stink-eyes. "I can stand up for myself just fine… since I know you'll have my back."_

" _Thanks for leaving something for me to handle for once," Yang had told him confidently as he'd stepped out of the ring. The two of them had bumped fists has she'd gotten ready for a rematch with Rojo. "You got me this far partner, let me bring it home!"_

"I…" Ragna began before shaking his head.

" _As long as you're stopped... as long as you're saved… I don't care who has to do it."_

"...Without them I…"

 _ **THUD!**_

' _Saved by the bell,'_ the redhead thought to herself as she looked over to Jaune who had collapsed onto the ground. The blonde wasn't moving, only barely breathing as his body refused to move another inch. "...I think his endurance gave out."

"Yeah, never really showed him how to find his limit," Ragna muttered as he shook his head and walked over to Jaune, gathering his gear and slinging the student over his shoulder. "Then again…"

"You're not the right person to teach him that anyways," Pyrrha finished, something Ragna couldn't argue with. "Mind helping me bring him to his room?"

"No, I'm just lugging him like this because I need a workout too," Ragna told her smuggly, his snarky smile actual able to get his fellow student to laugh.

"Excuse me?" came a new voice as the door to the training room opened. Ragna had been afraid it would be Goodwitch and he'd somehow get shackled with another day of mopping, but this new woman was different. She wore a traditional red chinese dress and had her black hair done up in the back. "Is that student alright?"

"Jaune? He should be fine, probably just collapsed from exhaustion," Ragna told her.

"You say that like it's fine, but being put in such a state has its own risks," the newcomer told him as she got a closer look at Jaune. "And all of these welts on him… very well, I'll have to look him over. Bring him this way please."

"Lady, who do-" Ragna tried to say, only to receive a finger in the face.

"That last person you should think of angering," she told him, her face stern and angry… right before a gentle smile formed on her face. "Litchi Faye-Ling; a huntress that doubles as a licensed doctor and medic."

' _She's not wrong,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he sat in Litchi's office, a room that he'd never been to before. He'd told Pyrrha that he'd take Jaune back to their team room once he'd been looked over by the doctor, so she'd already headed off to bed. ' _Definitely wouldn't want to piss a doctor off.'_

"This bruising should heal given time, but I think that I'd be able to provide him with a much faster recovery as long as I apply some of my special ointment. Luckily, he's already passed out so he won't have to worry about how much it stings."

' _Yep, not effing with her…'_ Ragna concluded, knowing how badly some of the ointments could sting. "So Doc?"

"Hmm?" Litchi hummed from her work.

"I don't get sick, but are you new here? Don't think I've seen you around campus before."

"The truth was I arrived here from Haven today," she said, not taking her eyes off of Jaune as she applied the ointment to his shirtless skin (which Ragna noted, was starting to slowly tone itself). "I'd just finished setting up my office when I decided I'd take a quick walk around campus to stretch my legs."

"And you ran into us," Ragna told her.

"Exactly, but I never expect to run into 'problem child' Ragna on my first day here," she said told him sweetly.

"Tch, so now I'm famous?" Ragna asked with a low groan. " _Yare yare daze…"_

"With what Goodwitch has told me, you might as well be," Litchi explained. "You've certainly made an impact on her… especially when you proved that you could go toe-to-toe with her."

"...If it made such an impact on her then why the hell am I still getting put on mop duty?" Ragna demanded crassly.

"Guess that's part of your charm," Litchi teased. Ragna would have growled… except for the running he heard off in the distance. "I almost reminds me of my-"

 _ **SLAM!**_

The force of the door to Litchi's office opening made the doctor jump in her seat and forced her to lose her grip on the ointment she'd been applying to Jaune. Standing out in the hallway was a menacing shadow silhouette. Before Ragna could do anything, the figure leaped into the air closing in on the doctor and the unconscious Jaune. Ragna's eyes widened as-

" _ **LITCHI MY LOVE! AT LAST I'VE FOUND-!"**_

 _ **WHAM!**_

Ragna watched as Litchi made a perfect split, her leg thrusting upward and striking the newcomer in the chest. The unexpected blow caused the man to gag and it was then that Ragna finally managed to recognize him as Bang Shishigami, the ninja that had a habit of popping in at the strangest times. Crumpling to the ground in pain, Bang gripped his chest in agony as Litchi merely gave a sad sigh.

' _...Love. huh?'_ Ragna thought as he watched on uncomfortably.

"Bang, was that really necessary?" Litchi demanded, looking down crossing at the ninja.

"But Litchi… It's been over a month since we've seen each other…" Bang said slowly starting to recover. Ragna noted that Litchi's kick had left a bruise on Bang's chest, but the doctor wasn't in any hurry to get him medication. "And you didn't even wait for me at the docks… where I was hoping to surprise you."

"I didn't even know you were still in Vale! Weren't you given another assignment?"

"I did, but it's not of the highest priority; they gave me a week to complete it an I can do it in a day!" Bang told her proudly, posing as the strong man of justice that he was… Litchi wasn't impressed.

"So you're ignoring your work, something that you've been trusted with as a Huntsman… to bring me flowers?"

"Ah, the flowers!" Bang told her happily. "I'm glad that you noticed them, I-!" Bang faltered as he saw that the flowers he'd been holding had been crushed beneath him once Litchi had kicked him. "Do… you like them…?"

' _This is getting awkward,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he watched the scene, Litchi calling Bang out on his irresponsible decisions and Bang trying to defend himself. Giving a sigh, Ragna picked up Jaune (after putting his shirt back on) and headed out to _JNPR's_ team room. ' _That's some beloved that you've got there Bang. And I thought Jaune's crush on Weiss was painful…'_

 _Later -Vale-_

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Blake asked as she looked to her traveling companion. "After all, you just got here…"

"Oh course I'm sure, who would I be if I let you go alone?" Makoto told her as the two walked through the deserted streets. There would be no one awake at this late hour and that was exactly what the two of them were going for. "Besides, I'll have time to visit with them _after_ we find the _White Fang_ …"

"And what if we do find them, are you okay with that?" the cat Faunus asked. Makoto didn't respond. "After you and your family left… there were some days that I found myself wishing that I'd left with you…"

"Why didn't you? Was something keeping you there?"

"...Blind faith maybe," Blake admitted. "The few friends that I actually still had in that group until the end... and of course-"

" _You-Know-Who,"_ Makoto finished. "...Well not Voldemort, but you get the idea." Blake nodded, giving her friend a single sad. "Then you joined _Beacon_ which has a reputation of having a pro-Faunus headmaster… must be the reason why you're able to keep your ears out in public." The last thing she was expecting in a situation this serious was for the reclusive Black to give a small laugh.

"You have no idea; I was a mess when I first got here. I kept to myself so much that most people forgot that they had classes with me. Whenever my ribbon felt even slightly loose I was scared to death that it would come off and my team would find out who I really was. And just because Ozpin's pro-Faunus doesn't mean that all of the students here are; I can think of a particularly blunt team that hates us."

"Yeah, and I can think of a couple of cops since I've gotten off of the boat," Makoto added, puffing her cheeks at the events that had happened that morning. "So… what made you finally take your bow off?"

"...That's a story for another time," Blake told her, not ready to recount the events from the _Grimm's Day Dance…_ that was a secret for her and Ragna only. "Let's focus on finding that Tao girl that Ragna seemed to know. She might've seemed a little… eccentric, but she might know more than she lets on."

"Right and how on _Remnant_ are we supposed to find a stray _Faunus_ out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night?" Makoto asked rolling her eyes. Blake didn't answer immediately, though she did take her scroll out. "Who are you calling?"

"I'm not; I just want to know if there's a place that sells Meat Buns this late at night." Makoto's confusion lasted all of five seconds before she digged her scroll out as well.

"Six streets down south and it's owned by a Bat Faunus," Makoto said as she closed her scroll. "If we don't find her there at least we'll get some bait to track her down."

 _The Next Morning_

"No sign of them on our end Yang, but we'll keep asking around until we find them I promise," Ruby said into her scroll. "We'll finish up here and head to the restaurant district." Chatter on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I'll talk to you later if…. When we find something." Sighing, the young student closed put her scroll away and looked sadly at the ground. "I still can't believe she just up and left us without even leaving a letter."

"Same here," Mai Natsume told her after she came back from questioning a small group of people of her partner's whereabouts. "Makoto never does things like this, even if she does act pretty hyper most of the time… are you sure you have no idea where they are?"

"Positive," Ragna told her as he kept his arms crossed, only scanning around the streets with his eyes. "If they're hiding from us, they're doing a damn good job of it. Doubt finding them would be easy, even if Makoto stand out in a crowd with that tail of hers."

"Are they in trouble? The three of you all got stopped by the police yesterday and… well I'm worried that Blake didn't tell us the full story of what happened." From what Ragna could tell, Blake and Makoto both had omitted parts about Sun and Tao in their explanations and any part discussing the _White Fang_.

"I don't think they're in trouble at least. Maybe if Ironwood hadn't shown up it'd be a different story, but I think we managed to get out of there fine… at least until Goodwitch finds out about it." Ragna sighed. "Thanks to her we don't have a full force looking now."

In order to ensure that the students were ready for the Tournament (and that the Vale teams stood a higher chance of winning) Goodwitch had started hosting additional lessons for on Saturday for any students that had wished it and signed up. These lessons would actual take place off-campus in the trial forests, so there was a long waitlist for the additional practice. Ragna himself hadn't signed up (because he already goes hunting enough on his own time), but everyone else from _Team RAIN_ and all of _Team_ _JACK_ had signed up in a hurry. Tsubaki had wanted to go to look for her friend, but Goodwitch had made it clear that if she lost her place on the waitlist, she likely wouldn't participate in the routine until the next semester. Ragna had promised both Teams that he'd help to look for Makoto until they got back, which left him partnered with Mai and Ruby while Weiss and Yang checked on the other end of town. If anything Ragna had figured that the division would had him working with Yang and Mai so Ruby and Weiss could work together as partners… but he hadn't seen any reason to deny Weiss's sudden request.

"Are you sure that you don't have any idea where they are?" Ruby demanded of her partner. "Ragna just shook his head. "What about what they could be doing?"

"That's… well okay, I _might_ have a few ideas there, but nothing that would tell us where they could be," Ragna muttered, earning an expecting look from Ruby as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Sorry, 'fraid I shouldn't say more than that."

"Why not?" she demanded, not exactly angry with the Reaper yet, but not pleased with him either. "Is Blake having you keep secrets for her?"

"I guess you could say that," Ragna admitted. "But to fair, Blake's keeping a couple of secrets for me as well… It's an… understanding you could call it."

"Secrets, huh?" Ruby asked before coming up with an idea. Trying to play her cards right, she gave a giggle that Ragna wasn't quite sure how to interpret given the situation.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he demanded with an eyebrow raised. "You saying I couldn't keep a secret?"

"You seem like the kind of guy that makes sure everyone knows what he's thinking, especially when you're ticked off about something," Ruby told him, which was true. "Trust me, anything that Yang would want to know she could probably pry out of you."

"That… I guess that's a fair point," Ragna said, before trying to put up a more confident expression. "But I still got some pretty awesome secrets that you don't know about!"

"Really, then how about you hit me with one so that I know you're not lying?" Ruby demanded, leaving Ragna to give a nervous expression as he realized he was being played by his best friend. "Just tell me one so I'll believe you and I won't ask you anything else, promise."

"...You better not break that one," Ragna said with a sigh as he thought back to something that he _could_ tell her. There were a couple of stories from his past that would take too long for him to tell now, and some of those certain he certainly couldn't tell Ruby of all people… but there was one small thing. "All right then, how about this? Silver wasn't always my hair's natural color."

"That's your big secret?" Ruby question with a shrug, acting like she wasn't impressed.

"Fine, if you're going to be like that about it..." Ragna said with a smirk, turning his back to her as he called his friend's bluff.

"AHHH! TELLMETELLMETELLME!" the young huntress demanded waving her arms wildly and causing Ragna to laugh.

"So back when I was a young runt, before I started to find out I was a _Drive_ user I actually looked a lot closer to my brother," Ragna told her as he pointed to his red eye. "Both of these babies used to be green and my hair was a bright blonde. I mean it was still gravity-defyingly spiky, but you get the idea."

"Is that sooooo?" Ruby asked as she took a good long look at Ragna's hair.

"...You're not allowed tell Yang about this, understand?" he ordered harshly.

"Spoilsport," she told him, causing the Reaper to shake his head. In his gut he knew the obvious truth; Yang would know about his hair in the next week in not sooner.

"That group didn't know anything either," Mai said with a sigh as she came back. "Either of you two find anything?"

"Besides how easy it is to blackmail Ragna, I'm afraid not," Ruby told her, causing the Reaper to facepalm. "Maybe it's time that we moved onto a different area, it's pretty clear that we aren't going to find Blake by sticking around here."

"Yeah… maybe we should try taking a look around the docks or something," Ragna suggested. "Actually, nah… If there's a chance that they went and met up with Sun and Tao, the dock's the last place that they would want to be."

"You mean because of the _Vale Police Force_ looking for them, correct?" a voice behind him asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm-WHOA!" Ragna shouted as he made a short hope backwards in sudden surprise. Looking behind him, he saw the strange girl orange haired girl from yesterday with Ironwood nowhere in sight. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You seem to be swearing again," Penny noted obviously. "General Ironwood has instructed me that doing such a thing is rude and improper."

"You gave me enough of a damn reason to swear!" Ragna shouted at her, still startled by the sudden pop-up. ' _Seriously, how in the hell did I not notice her right behind me? My sixth and seventh senses should've picked up on her long ago.'_

"So Ragna…" Ruby asked as she tried to get a good look at this odd newcomer. "Who's your friend?"

"Friend?!" Penny asked suddenly, looking up at Ragna with a happy expression that was still pretty damn strange. "Are we really friends?"

"I, uh-" Ragna tried to say, but Penny had already moved on to Ruby and Mai.

"And does that mean that we could be friends as well?" she asked them both excitedly, her eagerness at acquiring new friends almost scary to a degree.

"I mean…" Mai said, understandably caught off guard by this request from a complete stranger.

"Suuuuuure…?" Ruby said with uncertainty. "A-Always pays to have friends."

"Oh how wonderful!" Penny said excitedly grabbing both Ruby's and Mai's hand and leaping up and down. Ruby was doing her best to smile while Mai still didn't know what to think of their situation. From where he stood, Ragna facepalmed and let out a low groan.

' _Might as well ask her.'_ "Now that we're friends and all, think you can help us out with something?" he asked, causing Penny to look at him with curious tilted gaze. "You remember those two girls I was with yesterday when I was meet you, right? Do you have any idea where they could be?"

"Hmm… Blake is a cat, correct? And Makoto is a squirrel?" Ragna nodded slowly. "Hmm… perhaps they're trying to find the two fugitives from yesterday? Why are you searching for them?"

"They're not fugitives and I'm just trying to find them so that their friends are put at ease. Capisce?" the Reaper told her bluntly.

"Understood, I now know what you're trying to do!" Penny said as she gave the three a military salute. "I shall follow the three of you in attempt to help you find the two in question!"

"That's... nice of you and all, but you don't have to go that-" Ragna was about to say as Ruby grabbed his arm. "Eh?"

"More pairs of eyes looking for them can only be good for us, right?" she advised him. "I think we should take her with us and see where it goes. Maybe she'll find something we won't."

"...If you say so," Ragna told her while scratching the back of his head as Penny became focused on asking Mai questions of friendship. "...Let's hope that Yang and Weiss are still on the case."

 _Meanwhile -Other Side of Town-_

"I'm starting to wonder if asking the police for help was a bad idea," Yang observed annoyedly as the two walked out of a shop that had turned into yet _another_ dead end for their search. Early into their investigation, the two had decided that it might be a good idea to ask the _VPF_ if they hadn't seen Makoto and Blake around. They'd recognized who they were talking about easily enough… but with all of the dead ends, it seemed like they didn't want the two to be found. "Seriously, Blake… where the heck did you go?"

Weiss didn't say anything, and that was also become a common trend that day. Normal in situations like this the Schnee heir would try and be the voice of reason and try to come up with a strategy in order to achieve the groups goal. Assign from splitting the teams up earlier in the day, she hadn't exactly said much and had followed Yang's lead, which had proven to be straight forward. Go to the police, see if they have any leads, investigate. Truthfully it was somewhere to start and they had covered a lot of ground… but there still felt like there was a lack of progress being made.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you wanted to team up," Yang noted as she lead the two down the city streets. "I mean… I know that the I'm a little… extreme in some of the things that I do, but I don't get the feeling that you're singling me out."

"If there's anyone that I'd have to make an attempt to single out, it would probably be Ragna," Weiss told her friend, trying to lighten the mood even slightly with a bit of her humor. Blake didn't seem to get it, either that or she didn't find it all that funny. "You're probably the closest to Blake out of any of us."

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked, peering her head into any alleyway for any sign of Blake.

"Uh, you're her partner? That ringing any bells?" Weiss noted, like it was obvious. "You two are together just as much as you're seeing your sister. Studying together, coming up with combination attacks, trying to make her laugh at your jokes."

"She could use a laugh," Yang asserted, defending that last one. "I mean… yeah, we do spend a lot of time together as partners, but… that doesn't mean I know her that well." She sighed. "Who was the first one to find out that she was a Faunus and who was the one that took care of her while she was sick during the party?"

"You have a point, but I'm not sure how I feel about asking Ragna," Weiss admitted, even though it looked like she was guilty about admitting to it. "He… he's been acting really distant from us since yesterday…"

"That's on Jin, not him," Yang defended.

"I know that, but… every time we try to talk to him about changing Jin's attitude he defends him, like he did yesterday. They've been getting better lately, but…."

"There were moments like yesterday, I know," Yang said. "Which is exactly why I tried to get him out of his funk yesterday."

"By jumping on him?" Weiss asked with a sigh.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Yang told her with a smirk. "I can't make up Ragna's mind for him, but at the very least I can always be there to keep him real." The Rapier user considered what her friend was saying before nodding reluctantly. "But back to earlier, what were you asking me about Blake for?"

"It's just that Blake is really hard to read and I have hard time telling what she's thinking," she admitted. "Normally I'd be fine with her acting like this, but… yesterday's encounter with the guards probably wasn't the first time she's been attacked for being a Faunus. We've never really talked much so… I can't be sure that she doesn't have a problem with me."

"Why would she have a problem with you, it's not your fault that the Shane company has such a problem on their hand with Faunus rights."

"But it's still my family's company," Weiss told her. "I still can't say for sure if Blake doesn't consider me to be a problem."

"Yeah, and I'm sure going around the city streets on your day off to make sure that you Faunus friend is okay is a _total_ Schnee thing to do," Yang countered.

"...You know that you don't have to put it like that," Weiss told her friend with her arms crossed.

"Put it like this for now; if she does consider you part of the problem, wouldn't going out of your way like this to look for her be just the thing that would change her mind?" Weiss tried to come up with a counter to that… it wasn't easy. Smirking, Yang poked her on the head in a very Ragna like manner. "You think too much sometimes."

"I think as much as I need to!" Weiss shouted moodily. "Come on! We're wasting time here standing around and we've already spent too much time chasing after all of _your_ dead ends."

"Heh, right behind you _Snow White,_ " Yang teased, only to earn a glare from her teammate. "What? Is that a _Ragna only_ name?"

"YANG!" Weiss asked with a deep blush. "I'll have you know that-!"

Weiss didn't finish her sentence, it was had to do so with an explosion on the distance.

"Oh, that can't be good…" Yang said. ""Come on!"

"Alright, but don't let this make you think you're right!" Weiss shouted, rushing after her friend. "After all, yesterday you suggested-"

"Yeah, I _suggested!_ What's everyone else's excuse!?"

 _Meanwhile -Vale Harbor Docks-_

(Cue _**Wario Master of Disguise:**_ _Head Honcho Carpaccio_ Extended)

' _Getting me extra hands… making me push my deadline up several days… having what few people I can spare on the lookout for a DAMN CAT IN HOOD… and it still comes to this,_ ' Roman Torchwick thought to himself as he readied his cane gun and fired another shot. ' _That snake set me up… I don't know why, I don't know how, but that BASTARD set me up.'_

The blast that he'd fired was barely deflected by Blake's sword as the shot soon exploded afterwards, sending her off balance. A white masked wearing swordsman rushed forward and nearly stabbed her in the gut with their extending spear, but Makoto rushed in at just the last minute to blast them away with a charged punch. Nearby, Sun was using his weapon of choice (a quarterstaff) to deflect gun fire while seemed to be literally diving into her opponents as she knocked them to the floor.

"Why are you doing this!?" Yang demanded, blocking the blade from one of the _White Fang's_ members and allowing Makoto to step in again and blast them off to the side. "The _White Fang_ are a proud group that are fighting for _Faunus_ rights! Why are you working for someone like him!?"

"Easy, because I can give them exactly what they want!" Torchwick said as he fired another shot at the group and hit Blake, only for it to turn out to be a double. Instinctively, raising his cane behind him, he managed to deflect her blade before leaping back. "You think they want rights? Hah! They've already got 'rights' and no one gives a damn about them! Who the hell actually believes any of the equality that's not already on paper!" Blake rushed forward with a series of slashes, but Torchwick managed to deflect each of them with ease and land a solid punch on Blake's face.

"No, what they want is the one thing that no human alive can deny! The one thing that you HAVE to acknowledge no matter what you are! Equal Standing!" he was about to fire another shot off at Blake, only for Tao to dive into him and knock him off balance. Following her example, Sun rushed forward and form changed his weapon into its iconic Gun-nunchuck form, every swing sending a blast at the mob boss… but nothing was getting through.

"So you hook them up with weapons? Big deal!" Sun shouted as he turned golden forming several different clones of himself with his aura.

"You need weapons to win a war or show a nation that you're to be taken seriously! I provide those!" Torchwick shouted with a smirk as he proved to be slicker than most, weaving through each of Sun's attacks before smacking him upside the head with his cane. Sun flipped back to recover, landing next to Blake as Tao and Makoto were forced to fend off against the grunts. "Put don't worry yourself; I don't just provide to the _White Fang_."

"Guys?" came Makoto's nervous voice as she and Tao slowly began backing away. "I… I think we've got trouble…" In addition to even more _White Fang_ soldiers, a new group of outlaws had showed up. These people were human in the vaugest sense of the word; they were cruel, deadly, and didn't think much about what they were doing. All of them were armed and deadly and sneered as they looked at the kids they'd have to fight through.

"So in case you're so offended that I'm just using _White Fang,_ I'll bring in some other muscle to put your little mind at ease. Common criminals sure, but 100% human." Torchwick smirked. "Maybe I'm being a little _too_ progressive, but I'm having a hard time telling them both apart."

"Don't you dare!" Blake shouted as Torchwick played right into her weakness. Using her wire and sickle she made a wide swipe at the criminal, only for it to get easily deflected. Sun did his best to cover her back from the newcomers, but there were just too many of them to wipe out all at once. Blake tried to fight Torchwick up close and personally, switching with her shadow to try and catch him off guard, but Torchwick's reflexes were too quick as he quickly adapted to Blake's attacks knocking her off balance and forcing to the ground via sticking the barrel of his cane-gan against her face.

"BLAKE!" Makoto screamed from across the distance, too far away to do anything.

"Now now! Let's not do anything needlessly stupid," Torchwick told her as he shoved the gun painfully into the Faunus's cheek. "All we really want here is-"

 _ **CRACK!**_

Whatever offer he'd been about to give was thrown out the window as a high power shot blast his cane away from Blake. Taking the moment and using it to her favor, she kicked on Torchwick's chest. Giving a grunt, he looked up and saw a familiar sight.

"And now we've got _her_ …" he muttered, though trying to look dapper. "Hey there Red, did you miss me?"

"Leave my friend alone!" Ruby shouted as she used her weapon to launch her forward swinging into a powerful and deadly spin. Torchwick managed to block the slash and then it was him against Ruby. He managed to block the slash and went to counter with a cane swing, only to have the young student blast herself away and have him miss entirely. Firing a shot at Torchwick again, her target managed to defend the attack before shooting back with his cane narrowly missing Ruby.

"Get the damn cat!" one of the thugs shouted as a group of thugs went straight for Blake as she fought to get to her feet, she noted a flash of white right in front of her. Before any of the enemy forces could get close, a large ice pillar emerged from the ground and forced the enemy to take a cautious step back. "What the-!?"

"YANG!" Weiss yelled as Blake's partner charged in from the side, sending several of the thugs flying with a full powered haymaker. Turning behind her, she quickly helped her friend to her feet. "Can you still fight?"

"Of course," Blake promised, just be sure you watch my back. Using Weiss's sigils to leaped high into the air, she turned her sickle into a deadly torrent, slicing apart the opponent's weapon as Yang put the others in the floor.

On the other side of the field, Mai had leaped into action and was helping Makoto and the others fend off the several _White Fang_ members that had them surrounded. She easily made it apparent that her weapon wasn't just an accessory as she swung it around with blinding speed and precision, knocking down several _White Fang_ sending others unconscious. A group thought to wise up and surrounded her, but as they charged in she leaped into the air with expert skill and left her foes to painfully smash into each other. Changing her direction in mid-air using her semblance, she plunged her spear into the ground a made a shockwave that sent several members of the _White Fang_ off of her feet.

' _All these kids are starting to make for a real headache,'_ Torchwick thought to himself in his battle with Ruby. He easily deflected a swing with her scythe as quickly backstepped when she charged her _Speed Semblance_ to unleash a second attack. Managing a quick kick to her chest, he was swung his cane upwards as he forced to the defensive before beating on her guard with a rapid series of cane swings. Hitting her with an unorthodox uppercut he managed to break her defense, his cane and her scythe fired a shot in usion, the impact causing a small explosion that sent Ruby flying back and painfully hitting a metal crate. Torchwick was about to move in… only to find himself covered in a wicked shadow. ' _What the-?'_

Ragna's _Aramasa_ stuck the ground where the mod boss had been standing just second earlier, cleaving deep into the concrete and creating wicked cracks. Torchwick had to recover quickly to avoid Ragna's follow up blade as it nearly cleaved his head off before firing a second shot. Battering the attack away with his sword, Ragna rushed forward and clashed his massive blade with Torchwick's smaller cane, the force behind his attack sending the criminal sailing back.

"I thought I told you to-" Ruby began.

"I'm not babysitting!" Ragna shouted back to her before glaring at Torchwick and pointing his blade at her. "Call your men off or I'll carve ya in half!"

"Tch, I got a better option!" Torchwick shouted as Ragna heard the roar of jet engines. "How about we send this show off with a bang?"

The fighters arrived quickly, nearly an entire squadron of fighters armed to the teeth and flying low to minimizing the people that could see them. With showmanship snap of Torchwick's fingers, the fired their machine guns at the pier.

"MOVE IT!" Makoto shouted cause the Beacon student to dive for cover. They were quick enough to avoid the oncoming threat and the gunners must have been members of the _White Fang_ as they avoided shooting most of their allies… the renegades weren't so lucky as they were caught in the hailstorm, the thugs screaming as they were gunned down with extreme prejudice. Then one of the ships hit a storage of dust… right where Ruby was standing.

" _ **RUBY!"**_ Ragna shouted as she was flung through the air losing her grip on her scythe. She painfully hit the floor. She didn't appear to be gravely injured by the force… but she was unconscious in the middle of all the sailing bullets Running through the gunfire and deflecting shots when he could, the Reaper desperately tried to make his way to his best friend. ' _SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT_ _ **SHIT! I'M NOT LOSING HER TOO!"**_

Torchwick was there and he was closer than Ragna. Quickly taking his aim with his gun cane, he fired a single shot that would finally rid him of the nuisance of a hunter… only to be deflected by a sudden knife sailing in the shots path and causing both objects to explode. He didn't even have the time to fire a second shot as he was covered in shadow again.

" _ **YOU BASTARD!"**_ Ragna shouted as he swung his sword though deadly force, cleaving straight through Torchwick. He expected to see the mob boss cleaved in half, two bloody and eviscerated chunks of flesh falling to the ground… but he didn't see anything as his blade was only met with the air. Looking up, he saw that the planes had their guns focused soley on him.

 _ **ZING!**_

A burst of green energy erupted from behind the Reaper, cleaving the ships in half. Their _White Fang_ occupants fell to the floor as their ships exploded above them. Turning with shock behind him, he saw Penny firing of a cannon that she'd formed with the same type of knife that had saved Ruby's life just a split second ago. Whatever defenses the ships had were no match for her destructive force as she brought all of the ships to the ground. He was the only one that had seen this… but he couldn't be bother at the moment. Giving her a simple nod, he rushed over to Ruby to ensure that his friend was still safe.

(End theme)

 _Meanwhile_

Torchwick let out a deep breath as his feeling on gravity returned to normal. Looking around he realized that he was back at his base. He should have been cleaved in half by the sudden… well he wasn't sure _what_ that guy's deal was, but they sure seemed to be protective of red. Looking around the back he realized that wasn't alone here.

"So…" came the _last_ voice he wanted to hear. Turning behind him, he saw his visitor from yesterday sitting on his favorite chair, nonchalantly peeling a hard boiled egg whilst giving him the smile of a snake. "...How did it go?"

 _Back at the docks_

(Cue _**Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children**_ _Cloud Smiles_ Extended)

Now that the fighting was over, there was very little left to do. The group left the criminals in the hands of the _VPF_ and even managed to get the charges of illegal boarding dropped for Tao and Sun (thanks to a little encouragement from _Blackmail_ Weiss). Ruby had already fully recovered from the shock, but Ragna had pushed her not to take it too hard. Now this left the group to sort out their own issues.

"So… you used to be a member of the _White Fang_ then?" Weiss asked to Blake, arms crossed as she took her regular authoritative stance.

"Used to, but not anymore," Blake told her before looking at Makoto. "What we saw here today… I'd seen it before… I wanted to run and hide from it… but I also wanted to think that they were better than this… It's stupid, I know."

"Nothing's wrong with having hope for something, even if it seems impossible; I'm starting to hope that my father will finally open his eyes and start running our company a little differently." It wasn't much, but the smile the two of them shared was a step in the right direction.

With Makoto and Mai the issue was solved even easier, Mai simply reminded her partner of the promise that they had to watch each other's back . Makoto gave her an obvious eye roll before throwing her arm over Mai's shoulder, promising that she couldn't keep her away now. Sun had tried to sneak away while he still had the chance, only to receive the noggie of a lifetime from the both of them… Tao cackled at the sight, and suggested that everyone started thinking about eating.

Ragna watched on from the sidelines, giving a small smirk as he watched on from the background with Penny. The feeling was short lived as a white car drove through the police lines and beside the two. The side window lowered to reveal General Ironwood sitting in the backseat and looking at the two sternly. He didn't say anything, but Ragna gave him a small nod. Penny looked to Ragna in concern before looking to her new group of friends. The Reaper gave a small chuckle and proceeded to pat her head, a feeling that Penny didn't seem to understand.

"Take good care of her… she's got a lot of friends hoping to see her again," Ragna told Ironwood as he made his way back over to the rest of the group. Penny gave a smile before slowly getting into Ironwood's car.

"Running off on you own may have worked to your favor this time, but I can't allow you to take such risks in the future. You understand how important you are, don't you?" he asked Penny as he typed out a message to Ozpin. She nodded, but couldn't keep her eyes off the group she'd befriended in such a short time. The car then started moving, making the team smaller and smaller before they were gone... "It's time we made our way back to Atlas; I sure your sisters are worried sick about you."

 _Later -Beacon Academy-_

Once again, Ragna found himself leaning against a wall… but this time he was a little less moody than the others. On the other side of this wall, Makoto was having her reunion with a worried Noel and Tsubaki. All three of them were talking about their problems and Makoto was giving some insight into her past. Azrael was also present, lying on his bed and listening in the background not unlike Ragna… oddly enough, he seemed to be paying attention. Not saying word to them nor even making his own presence known, he rose from his small perch and began walking back to his room… only to see his brother standing in his way. The same brother who had a habit of making his life more complicated.

"...I'm still not giving up," Ragna promised. "I'm never going to be able to let go of what happened to us and you know that. " Jin shook his head as he made his way past. "But you know something?" The blond paused, both brothers with their backs facing each other. "Maybe I'm not ready to let go of… _this_ just yet either." He sighed. "Guess I'll have to find a way where I don't have to give up either."

"I doubt you could come up with one… but you're welcome to try," Jin said to him ominously as he walked on.

With all of the craziness that had happened that day, Ragna felt like he needed a nice long walk to wind himself down. He walked around Beacon Academy, wandering aimlessly as the setting pale moonlight cast a dark shadows against him. There weren't many people out wander the halls now, but Ragna had a habit of running into the few people that were out that night. A sudden sigh cut through the previously silent evening. Looking over, he saw the sigh was coming from Litchi's office; the door open, the lights on, and the doctor herself sighing again as she looked at the ruined bouquet of flowers.

"You kept them?" Ragna asked, startling the doctor as she jumped in her seat. "Sorry, didn't mean to pry…"

"It would've been cruel to throw them away… and Bang always means well, even if he's a little eccentric."

"More than a little, clearly," Ragna muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Hell, after that chewing out you gave him yesterday I'm pretty sure he's halfway to Haven by now."

"I wouldn't be surprised. And what are you doing alone on a Saturday night?" she questioned Ragna as she adjusted her glasses. "I imagine most students your year would either be studying or out at a party. What makes you so lonesome?"

"Habit mostly," Ragna admitted as he looked up at the broken moon. "I've always sort of been that way."

"Guess I was wrong," she said to him, giving the smallest of smiles. "You're not _completely_ like my husband after all."

"Husband?" Ragna questioned, turning back to the doctor with some clear surprise. "...Didn't know that you were married." He gave a small sigh, a little worried that he'd have to keep Litchi's secret from his ninja acquaintance. "Does… does Bang know?"

"I'd like to hope he does," Litchi told him, giving him the smallest of glares. "I know he can be thick in the head at times, but the man I married isn't nearly _that_ clueless."

(RECORD SCRATCH ENDING THE SONG)

"Wait…" Ragna began, his mouth gaping with like a fish as he tried to put his a thousand thoughts into words. "You- I- He- ...BANG'S YOUR HUSBAND!?"

"Indeed, we've been married eight years now," the doctor explained to him, reassessing her judgement of Ragna; he and Bang did have similar voice levels.

"B-But you told me that you last name was Fay-something!"

"Faye-Ling, and I didn't lie," she explained patiently. "When we were married, I decided that I'd keep my maiden name."

"But he leaps at you and goes out of his way like he's still trying to get his first date!" the Reaper shouted.

"That's just part of who Bang is," Litchi told him, giving him a small smile of understanding. "Besides, he's been trying to convince me to change my last name for years, and no matter what I do he won't give up."

"You kicked him square in the chest!" he shouted as his last point.

"He startled me… besides, I didn't think that you'd want to watch him try to woo me if I hadn't stopped him," she told him. "It may seem chaotic on the surface… but underneath it all, we're as loving a couple as any."

"That's… I mean… Okay, maybe you got a point… but for the life of me don't understand it," Ragna told her as he scratched the back of his head.

"Most people don't, but we make do," the doctor told him pleasantly as she smiled brightly for the Reaper. "Do you need an examination, insomnia perhaps?"

"I'll get back to you on that one doc," Ragna told her as he shook his head. "Later."

"Don't feel too bad, you're still young after all," Litchi assured him, sentiment that wasn't helping Ragna's mood.

Not long later, Ragna was outside and sitting on one of his favorite benches. Favorite because it had been a reliable place to doze off when he didn't have another chance.

"...What the actual hell?" he muttered to himself for the upteenth time. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't wrap his head around it. It was taking him a little to become used to the idea, but maybe he didn't have to understand Litchi's dynamic with her… _dynamic_ husband.

"You know, you're lucky I'm not _Yang_ , otherwise you would have been tackled again," he heard Ruby inform from behind him as the fellow student leaned on the back of the bench. "Something on your mind?"

"...Something I just can't understand for the life of me," he admitted as he looked up at the sky and sighed. "I'm starting to think I should just settle for being clueless."

"As long as your stop being clueless right here and now," Ruby said, running a hand through Ragna's hair and embarrassing the Reaper as she pet him almost like you would a dog. "Come on, exams aren't that far away and Weiss wants all of us to start studying now. Yang says that she'll only get started if you come with us and Blake's worried that you don't have anyone else to study with."

"...Right, and why do you want me there?" he asked Ruby, staying seated where he was.

"Aw c'mon, that's easy," Ruby told him with a full smile that almost seemed to be beaming in the moonlight. "Like I'm going to leave you out of a group get together; you're as big a part of team _RWBY_ as any of us… We wouldn't want to leave you out of anything."

"...Twist my arm why don't you?" Ragna told her, a smug smirk forming on his face. "And after the day all of of you already put me through."

"You're not going to be playing the victim here mister," Ruby told him as she grabbed his right arm, forcing the Reaper to his feet. It didn't take much effort and soon she had Ragna following her into the library. Even if it was late at night there were already plenty of teams sitting and trying to get some late night studying in. "Sis! I brought him! We can get to studying now!"

"Darn, I was almost hoping that he wouldn't show…" Yang said with a sigh… before it immediately went to an obvious smile. "Just kidding, let's get going and nail this test!"

"Yang, volume," Weiss said as she raised her book. "Since Ragna's with us we're starting with _Grimm Studies_ , if we're lucky we should be able to cover most of the material tonight… provided he lives up to form of course."

"Let's worry about ourselves first, that's a lot of material to cover for one night," Blake said, giving Ragna a small smile. "And we've already put him through enough for one day."

Ruby tried to ignore the smug look Ragna was giving her at that last comment. "Let's just get started, another Ragna/Ruby all nighter! …Well now it's a _Ragna/ Team RWBY_ all nighter I suppose." Turning back to Ragna, she looked up at her closest friend and gave him one final smile. "Ready to go, bestie?"

"...Ready as I'll ever be I guess," Ragna told her with the smallest of smiles on his face. ' _...I guess I shouldn't be judging Litchi and Bang after all…_

 _It's not like my love life's what you'd call normal either.'_


	16. Time Off

_Volume 2 Prologue_

 _ **Crimson XVI: Off Time**_

It had been a while since Ragna had found himself in the outland woods while it was still light out, but here he was; outside and resting his back against a giant tree. The Reaper didn't even have _Aramasa_ or _Clarent_ on his person. Instead he carried a long and wide blade that looked similar in size to Kagura's sword. The weapon wasn't in the best condition and it even carried some light rust on it, but it would serve its purpose here.

Despite the presence of a large weapon, you might've been forgiven if you thought the setting was peaceful. The tree cast a relaxing shade over the area which was only broken in a few places by the bright morning sunshine that shone through the branches which would bend and sway in the breeze. Aside from the rustling of the wind, the chirping of birds was the only thing that broke through the quiet serenity of the outside area. There wasn't even a _Grimm_ beast for miles… but Ragna was expecting something much more dangerous.

"Huh… this feels a little out of the way," Azrael noted as he walked into the clearing and looked around. "Are you sure that this is the spot you wanted?"

"Couldn't have us wreaking the Academy or causing property damage in town; might've gotten stuck with mop duty again," Ragna explained, thinking of how many times he's already been in trouble with _Goodwitch_ for property damage back in the academy.

"So we're really doing it today?" Azrael asked as he smiled fiercely while cracking his knuckles, a sound so powerful that it echoed across the forest. "Didn't think you were serious when you said _we'll settle this_ at breakfast. So… what made you ready to do this now?"

"Are you complaining?" Ragna returned before shaking his head. "And here I thought you'd be chomping at the bit."

"You have no damn idea," Azrael said, his expression suggesting he was doing everything he could to hold himself back in the moment. "But I didn't come this far just to see you wuss out. If we're doing this, I want to know that your heart's really in it."

"You don't have any reason to worry then; I'm ready to kick your ass... but you're not getting a fight to the death," Ragna told him. Azrael scowled, feeling robbed of what he really wanted. The Reaper only smirked. "Come on, exams were already murder enough and I'm not ready to see my team ripped apart. I already had to work on fixing things with Tsubaki before she left… be kinda stupid if we broke the team now."

"Then why bother fighting me in the first place? Doesn't look like you've got a lot to gain from this match up," the mad dog demanded.

" _Team RAIN_ still needs some serious changes and as its leader it looks like the job's going to fall to me one way or another. I already got the hard part out of the way with my partner, so now it's your turn," the Reaper said, his smirk quickly vanishing and his eyes set in a deathly serious scowl. "It's high time somebody stepped in and curbed your damn bloodlust, _Mad Dog._ "

"...In that case," Azrael said, before seemingly disappearing from sight. An instant later he was in front of Ragna, unleashing a massive forward jab.

(Cue _**Final Fantasy XV**_ _Episode Gladiolus: Battle Theme_ )

Had Ragna's reflexes been even a split second slower, Azrael's sudden attack would have pulverized him. As it stood his last second dodge barely saved him by leaping out of the way and finally bringing his sword up with clear intentions to fight. That lone strike was enough to blast a huge hole in the tree he'd been standing in front of and the whole area trembled as the massive evergreen began falling to the ground. The blue haired giant turned back to face Ragna, with a face full of nothing but bloodlust and excitement.

" **YOU BETTER BE SURE I GET MY FILL,** _ **GRIMM REAPER**_

Taking his chance to attack, Ragna leaped at Azrael with a powerful overhead swing. The _Mad Dog_ didn't even try to avoid the massive blade as he managed to block the strike with his bare arms alone, though the ground beneath him still cracked from the force. Azrael came out with a harsh downward spike, forcing Ragna to the ground and causing him to slide back. Driving his fist into the ground, Azrael hurled a massive chunk of the earth at the Reaper with and upward swing. Ragna brought his sword down and carved the rock in half and just barely brought it back up in time to counter Azrael's rushing _**Gustav**_ technique. The impact from both attacks sent a dust cloud flying around them with the shockwave they created.

Both fighters then turned into powerful roundhouse kicks, causing powerful sparks to fly as their metal plated shoes clashed with one another. The _Mad Dog_ then unleashed a sweeping upward kick which Ragna counted with a downward swing before Azrael unleashed a powerful clothesline forcing Ragna to guard with his sword, though Azrael's power was still great enough to send him flying back off of his feet. Twisting his body to flip backwards and properly land, Ragna plunged his sword into the ground to quickly stopped his slide back. Tearing his sword out of the ground with a great upwards swing, Ragna sent a harsh wave to debris straight at Azrael.

' _This won't hurt him, but at the very least it should stun him or get him to move,'_ Ragna thought to himself tensing his muscles to get ready for the _Mad Dog's_ move to escape his attack, only to see Azrael glowing red. ' _Crap, is that-?'_

All of the debris that Ragna was hoping to turn into a distraction was absorbed the moment it reach the dark red aura surrounding Azrael. It wasn't only the larger rocks or chunks of dirt either, when the wave passed Ragna didn't see a speck of dirt on his teammate's body. Receiving an ugly smirk from the berserk fighter, Ragna watch as Azrael dropped the aura before waving his hand and firing off an inexplicable fireball at the Reaper. The thing was deathly fast, and Ragna barely had the chance to cleave it into two halves before he was struck by it.

Ragna didn't have the time to catch his breath or think about what happen, hell the two titanic explosions from Azrael's attack behind him was the furthest thing in his mind as the Mad Dog continued his assault. He guarded against an overhead stomp only for Azrael to retract his feet before trying to get Ragna's legs with a double kick under the blade's guard. Ragna was forced to leap into the air in order to avoid the attack. Capitalizing on his positioning, the Reaper swung his blade downwards to try to inflict an actual hit on his opponent. Azrael was the one who was forced to more fast this time, unleashing a risky uppercut with his fist that just barely managed to counter Ragna's own move as the two attacks clashed.

" **HAH!"** Azrael shouted with joy at the conflict as he drove his fist down, catching against Ragna's bladed guard in midair. The Reaper was sent to the ground and forced back into a powerful slide as he fought hard to keep his footing. Azrael disappeared from view, and Ragna was forced to trust his instincts as he shifted his guard behind him. " _ **FULL-!"**_ Azrael shouted from behind Ragna, forcing him off of his feet with a titanic upward kick before launching him into the air with a devastating uppercut uppercut. The Reaper had guarded the attack, but he was still sent flying high into the air… right where Azrael was already lying in wait with his finishing attack. " _ **-SPARTAN!"**_ Ragna forced his blade behind him and forced it to guard him from damage. While took the bulk of the force, he was still sent flying though the sky over the speed of sound.

Grunting as twisted his body around in the air to regain whatever control he still managed to have, he cleaved through any obstacle in his way in his forced flight through the forest. Breaking out of the thick treeline and into a large clearing, Ragna flipped himself forward just in time to stick the landing and return to the earth.

' _Damn… He wasn't kidding around when he said that he wanted this,'_ Ragna thought to himself now that he had a literal second to himself to think. That 'second to think' would turn to be quite literal as he became completely covered in shadow. Looking up with dread, he saw that a storm of uprooted trees, huge chunks of unearthed ground, and giant boulders were flying towards. ' _...Kay, now there's this.'_

Focusing on making his movements fast instead of powerful, Ragna made four rapid sword swings before the debris was even within physical range. Each of his attacks carried enough power to send deadly shockwaves through the air, carving chunks of the fall threat to pieces. Holding his ground as the threatening objects fell to the ground, Ragna unleashed a multitude of powerful sword swings as he cut through everything that even got close to him. Cutting through one of the pieces however, he saw Azrael diving through the torrent of his own attack.

Dodging Azrael's fist as it struck the ground where he'd been standing the instant before, Ragna retaliated with a slash be diving to the side to dodge a falling boulder. With deadly debris falling all around them, the two continued to clash within the maelstrom. The two exchanged three rapid blows between sword and fist before Ragna was forced to dodge Azrael's heavy kick, shattering the tree falling directly behind him into toothpicks. Clashing once more before winding up two powerful haymaker attacks, Ragna and Azrael collided and caused a massive explosion of energy to burst around them. The shockwave tore through the remaining debris and the grass on the ground, reducing both to shreds.

As Azrael went for another high stomp, Ragna maged to deflect the attack and for him back just a few feet. The Reaper then guarded again the _Mad Dog's_ clothesline lunch before backstepping as Azrael tried to grab him. Ragna brought his sword down with a mighty slash, right before Azrael shifted from sight and left him to carve a deep indent into the earth. Turning around just before Azrael appeared directly behind him, bare fist and blade clashed sending both fighters sliding back a few feet from the impact. This didn't stop each of their assaults for long as both charged back into the fray. Ragna's sword clash against Azrael's arm before the _Mad Dog_ through a wild kick out which was countered by one of Ragna's. Putting his hand together, Azrael went for a meaty overhead spike, only to have the blow parried by the Reaper's sudden upward slash. Azrael then tried to catch Ragna with a vicious uppercut, but he'd stepped back at the last moment before turning into a great slash. Azrael was forced to guard against the attack, and though he didn't take any forcable damage from the blow it did send him sliding back a solid fifteen feet.

"Hah… WONDERFUL!" Azrael shouted at the top of his lungs as Ragna kept his borrowed blade ready. "You're fighting just as well-! NO! Even BETTER than your match with Goodwitch! This is what I've been waiting for! A match that I can finally take seriously!"

"Well I'm glad one of us is happy," Ragna responded sarcastically, even though he'd quite literally asked for this.

"But still… why don't you use your own blade!?" the _Mad Dog_ demanded. "If you're really serious about fighting me you should have brought a weapon you'd trust with your life! Fighting with that piece of rust is just an insult to us both!"

"Is it? Then why haven't you broken the damn thing yet?" Ragna bit back with a challenging smile. "Come on _Mad Dog_ , you're not impressing me just yet!"

"Oh… I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" Azrael roared as he flew through the air and Ragna responded in kind. The _Mad Dog_ reeled his fist back as Ragna readied an equally destructive slash with his rusty blade. The two warriors roared as the distance closed, finally unleashing both of their attacks in a brilliant collison.

 _(End Theme)_

 _ **Substory Five: Check In**_

"...And to think it just keeps going," Professor Ozpin said with an air of concern as he looked over his scoll, mulling over the information it was presenting him. The tremors that were being reported had a nearly unheard of intensity, and never had they occurred so frequently as this. Had ground zero been any closer to walls or not seeming to move further away as the tremors continued, the residents of the city might've been in great danger.

"Is everything okay?" Yang Xiao Long asked as she stood in front of the headmaster's desk. Her arms crossed as she waited to finally be addressed after being called here by the man currently ignoring her.

"I'm sorry, I was just checking on a different situation to make sure it hadn't become serious," Ozpin said as he closed the screen and set his device back on his desk. Yang looked at him expectantly, apparently not in the mood for having secrets kept. "...At the moment it's too early to say one way or the other."

"Right… So what did you want me in here for?" Yang asked, ready to get down to business. "I already saw my scores, so you're not here to give me a lecture about my exams."

"No, I likely would've just sent you a letter for that… or send Goodwitch to give the lecture, should the situation have been severe enough." Yang gave an involuntary shiver. "Consider that _encouragement_ to do well on the next round of testing as well."

"Right, I'll be sure to study up with Ragna," she assured him, knowing that whatever punishment Goodwitch would prepare, chances were slim it'd be at all lenient.

"Speaking of this academy's _Grimm Reaper_ , that's actually the subject I called you in to ask about him and the situation with his team," the academy head explained, finally revealing what the purpose of this small meet up was.

"...You couldn't just ask him that in person?" Yang asked, feeling she'd been needlessly called in here.

"I might have… if I had some way of reaching him on his scoll; at the present I have had little luck in getting in touch with him," he infomed. "That and… I don't think I could get a completely honest answer from him; that's why I'm relying on your observations."

"Then there's not much to say; he and Tsubaki seem to have things more or less patched up and he hasn't had any real beef with Noel," she explained. "I think the biggest problem he still has is with Azrael, but he's already been talking about finishing that off. In fact, I think he might be doing something about that right now."

' _And if I haven't been able to get in contact with him...'_ Oz considered seriously. ' _But to think that scale of damage could be caused by only two students… I certainly hope Ragna knows what he's doing.'_ He quickly returned his attention back to Yang. "So… you think he's ready to move back into his room with his own team then?"

"Probably, but I think he must've liked having that place all to himself," the blonde admitted.

"Well I can't make exception for any students. The only reason I gave him that room in the first place was to give him the time he needed to handle his issues with his team and I gave him an agreed time limit to do so. He'll likely have a few days left in his own quarters, but I assure you'll he'll be back with his team before the next semester begins." Ozpin then folded his hands patiently. "...Meaning you're free to do what you want."

"Isn't that what I always do?" Yang shot back with a cocky smirk.

"Oh? Care explain what that means?" a stoic Ozpin questioned.

"It means that even though you asked me to make sure Ragna wasn't going to be going all dark and brooding 24/7, I only gave him that one win when you first asked." Yang didn't look directly at her teacher. "Truth is… I'm only hanging out with him because it's what I want to do; to spend time with my friend."

"...Is that so?" the headmaster questioned before waving his hand away. "In that case, far be it from me to interfere with such a friendship. Have you already told him about my request?"

"Not yet, haven't told my team either. You want it to stay that way?" Ozpin nodded. "I don't like keeping secrets, and I still want to tell them eventually."

"You'll get your chance, I promise," he assured her. "Better yet, I'll tell them myself when that time finally comes."

"I'm gonna hold you to that one, but if you don't mind I think I'll drop this here; Ragna and I have a movie to catch later tonight and I want to be looking my best," Yang told him matter-of-factly before turning and heading off without waiting to be excused by the professor. Ozpin didn't say a word in rebuttal (though it he find it a touch excessive that she was getting ready now if it was still morning), only watching her leave his office and waiting a few moments to make sure she was gone.

' _...Going to her was probably the right move at the time… but he's still spending far more time with Team RWBY than his with his own group, even now. I suppose I might've expected this outcome, but to think its actually gone as far as it has…'_ He let out a lengthy sigh, before smiling softly to himself. ' _He's managed to take it this far with minimal interference, I suppose it's only right that I stay to the side and let his situation take its natural course from now on… whatever way that may be.'_

 _ **Substory Six: Copycat Reaper**_

"Why won't… you… go… UP!?" Ruby screamed as she puffed her cheeks out and growled, her face turning red as she tried to raise the massive _Aramasa_ blade. Her arms were shaking as she could barely raise the sword a few inches off of the ground and only for a few seconds at a time. Letting the metal blade fall to the ground with a dull clang, she fought to catch her breath.

"Is it really that hard to lift his sword?" Blake Belladonna asked as she stood off to the side. The cat Faunus had wanted to come into the training room to practice, but upon arriving she'd instead found Ruby with _Aramasa_ and _Clarent_ , seeming to try and investigate every nook and cranny for the former. "You _do_ fight with a sniper/scythe, don't you? That doesn't seem like the lightest thing either."

"I know what I use! That's why I'm trying to pick this thing up!" Ruby shouted as her entire body began shake just trying to raise the thing off of the floor once more. "How dense is the metal on this thing!?"

"...I feel there's an obvious joke to be made at Ragna's expense, but I think that's more of Yang's thing," Weiss Schnee said as she stood off to the side and watched her leader. The young Schnee had also come into the practice room in the hopes of refining her skills against some of the dummy targets, but seeing Ruby with Ragna's weaponry had piqued her interest more than she'd wanted to admit. "Hard to believe he left his sword with you for today, especially after what you tried to do with his coat."

"Says the person who tried it on just after I did!" Ruby reminded harshly as she continued to struggle to raise the sword. Finally at wits end, she let go of the weapon and let in fall to the floor. "Seriously, how does anyone even use this? And he even swings it using one arm most of the time!"

"He's probably had to undergo harsh training in order to use it," Blake reasonably guessed. "Even still, I wouldn't be surprised if he was where you are when he first tried to fight with that thing."

"You mean a young Ragna trying to using the oversized blade?" Weiss thought as she tried to visualize the idea. A much shorter Ragna with shorter silvery hair (Ruby hadn't let it slip that used to have blonde hair yet) and a slightly more rounded race. She could imagine him struggling and growing frustrated as he tried to raise a sword twice his size his both hands, his face growing red and his cheeks puffed like Ruby's had been, showing small dimples and… Weiss stopped herself there, realizing how adorable she was making him seem when in reality his was far from such an innocent figure.

"Something wrong? Your face is turning red," Blake asked, leaving Weiss to wave her friend off as she tried to retain appearances. "...Anyways Ruby, Ragna left you the _Clarent_ didn't he? Why not play with that instead?"

"I'M NOT PLAYING WITH IT!" Ruby denied as she looked to the other sword. "Besides, Ragna and I already uncovered all of the secrets in that thing when he first got it, remember? _Aramasa_ is the real mystery here and Ragna won't even tell me how it transforms into a scythe!"

"Probably because it has something to do with his _Drive_ ," Blake again guessed, thinking back to when Ragna had told her just how dangerous his semblance could be. Even if she didn't know specifically what form of semblance her friend had, his continued reluctance to even delve into using that ability made it clear it wasn't something to treat lightly.

"I still don't know why you're so obsessed with that oversized hunk of steel when you already have the _Crescent Rose_ to use," Weiss commented as she looked Ruby's weapon which had been set off to the side. "Isn't one scythe weapon enough? Or are you hoping to trade with Ragna?"

"Well… maybe I _would_ borrow it for a little bit if he'd let me," Ruby admitted with a big goofy smile, thinking of taking the giant weapon into battle. Maybe she'd even do a small trade like Weiss had brought up, so she'd see Ragna using her _Crescent Rose_ at the same time. Both of them fighting through hordes of _Grimm_ with their respective weapon, almost like a _Huntsman/Huntress_ duo. "Maybe if I try to convince him later…"

"He'd never go for it," Blake reminded.

"I've got my eyes," Ruby countered.

' _...She's right, so very very right,_ ' both Blake and Weiss thought to themselves nervously as the young huntress-in-training giggled, knowing full well the powerful trump card that she held.

 _ **Substory Seven: Teacher's Recreation**_

"Now isn't this an interesting gathering? I never thought that I'd be called out by you of all people during our vacation," Amane Nishiki comment joyfully as he stood with Professor Goodwitch in one of the lecture halls of the Academy. The colorful dancer had been asked here by a message on his scroll from the instructor and with a lack of current commitments had decided it would be in his interest to comply, if not to just keep himself entertained. "I have to say though… something about the setting you've chosen seems very _off_."

"Does it? I hadn't noticed," Goodwitch said in response, adjusting her glasses with an index finger instead of the usual wand she carried. While Amane was dressed in his normal pink kimono, Goodwitch had changed her regular outfit for a teal colored track suit, something Amane had no idea she owned and had a feeling that anyone else in this academy would be just as clueless about this particular addition to her wardrobe. When Goodwitch had come in she'd been ever more cautious, gently closing the door behind as not to make a sound and only after she'd been absolutely sure that she hadn't been followed.

"...I suppose I must be making astute observations of nothing more than figments of my imagination," Amane decided, waving off the idea like he hadn't thought of it in the first place. "Might I ask what it is that you've brought me here for?"

"I was hoping with your assistance in something; after searching throughout a few of the businesses I have yet to find the proper Yoga instructor. Every single one of them I've only been able to attend a single training session with. Either they're unable to focus on said lesson or they claim that they won't be able to teach me… I'm starting to think I'm unteachable."

"You? I find it hard to believe that the great instructor Goodwitch would let herself be considered unteachable in anything, much less something as universal as Yoga." Goodwitch had the sneaking suspicion that Amane might've been making fun of her. "If it's a lesson in Yoga that you're searching for you've certainly come to the right person, though I am surprised to see this side of you. This is the first I've heard of your pursuit of Yoga."

"Up until recently I hadn't even considered taking it as a pastime, but when a number of my colleague said it was a good way to… to…" Goodwitch seemed to be biting her tongue. "To relieve stress, they seemed rather insistent that I give it a try. To middling results of course."

' _In short someone said that she was too stuck up and this is her way of proving them wrong,'_ Amane quickly deduced. Even as playful as he was, even he could see that it would be a poor move to bring that to the attention of his teacher at the moment. "Well you shant get _middling_ results from me, my dearest teacher. I should have you know that I take my work seriously enough. Now… let's start with a basic stretch. I assume that you know downward dog?"

"Of course, my teacher's managed to teach me that much," Goodwitch told him as she set down a yoga mat and got into the the position atop it. "How's this?"

"Oh… oh my," Amane said, pressing his finger tips to his lips.

Goodwitch's tracksuit had already been plenty form fitting when she had first put it on, but with her trying to perform that that basic pose it was the fabrice seemed to be what was being stretched. With her arms fully extended in the front it was easy to get a good view on how big her chest cleavage actually was. The angle at which she had curved her body was great at showing of her hip curves and her… backside seemed to be completing the package. Amane said nothing for a long while as he watched on and Goodwitch remained in her… provocative pose.

"So… what do you have to say about this?"

"Only that I understand why your instructor's might've had a difficult time teaching you or rather why they thought that you were unteachable," Amane told her… "Your form is completely off! Your backside isn't high enough in the air, you're putting too much weight on your dominant hand and your supposed to be resting on the balls of your feet not the tips of your toes!" Amane gave a lengthy sigh. "Adjust yourself and we can begin stretching in earnest. I'll make a proper Yoga master out of you yet!"

"Perhaps I was right coming to you after all…" the instructor considered right as there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It is I! Pro… It's Peter; Bart and I wanted to apologize," the door then opened revealing Professors Port and Oobleck. "Glynda, we didn't mean to push you into stretch…" Neither instructor could continue as they finally got a good look into the room, looking straight at their colleague's hindquarters raised high in the air. Port gave a lengthy cough as he tried to get some support from the fellow instructor… Oobleck seemed suddenly interested in wiping off his glasses. "...Right then… carry on." The door closed, leaving the two red faced instructors in awkward silence as they parted ways and silently promised to never speak of this again.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was about?" the dancer said mostly to himself with a knowing smile upon his face.

 _ **Substory Eight: Odd Acquaintances**_

"I'm super surprised that you decided to ask me out," Nora said as she walked beside her partner Lei Ren. "I mean, well not like a _date_ ask out, more of a going out. Unless you thought you were asking me on a date, in which case I'm fine with that. Or are you asking me because you have a lot of stuff to grab and you need my help. What about-?"

"Nora, I think that's enough," Ren told her trying to get his partner back to reality. "I just felt like we could use some fresh air after finals week."

The two were traveling through the streets of the city, taking in the sights and getting some fresh air much like Ren had claimed. To commemorate that they were just out for a stroll, both had left their weapons back in the academy and were even wearing more casual clothing. Nora was wearing an orange midriff tank top that matched the color of her hair and showed off her belly button along with a pair of white cargo shorts and sandals. Ren himself was dressed in pink t-shirt with a black graffiti logo on the front, dark blue jeans, and brown loafers. The shirt had actually been a gift from Ragna who given it to him for letting borrowing his plant. It felt like a strange reason to give a gift as Ren had felt like Ragna was the one doing him the favor by taking care of it, but maybe the Reaper had gotten some actual peace from taking care of it.

"So what did you want to do first?" Nora asked Ren excitedly. "Walk through the park? Grab a bite to eat? Oh! I know this really good crepe place near here that just opened up! They're supposed to have these really awesome fruit topped ones!"

"I guess crepes sound good," Ren admitted, trying to hide that fact that he actually thought it sounded like an amazing idea. Nora smiled as she was able to cox him into going. "But you're paying for yours."

"Fine…" Nora said with a nervous sigh. Ren only allowed him the smallest of smiles as he was used to dealing with his partner like this since they'd been kids.

Luckily the shop that Nora had suggested was close by and double luckily they didn't have to worry about a long line to wait in since the store was relatively new like Nora had said. They'd only had to wait through a few groups of people (one of them and obvious couple on a date) before they reached the front and the worker at the front to their order.

"Time to get the crepe started!" the cutesy maid said as she took the money and began working, singing each step as she did so. "Mix up the batter…! Throw it on the pan…! Whip cream, chocolate, bananas, and looooooots of strawberries! Wrap it up and… Viola!"

"Oh man, that thing looks amazing," Nora said as she quickly went to grab the crepe, Ren busy shifting though his wallet to get funds for his own. Hoping to enjoy it while it was hot instead of waiting for Ren (he honestly didn't mind anyways) Nora was about dig in before she heard a low grumble coming from beside her from a cat… _something_ in a hood. It was a sound that she was a little too familiar with; _a hungry stomach._ Smiling, she held it out in offering. "Want it?"

"Meow? You're really giving this to Tao?" they asked. It was quite clear from her tone and her drool that she was having a hard time keeping herself from snatching it for herself right then and there.

"Really, I can always get another one," Nora told her with a bright smile. "Besides, I know how hard it can be to go with an empty stomach."

"Wow, you're good people!" Tao said as she took the crepe and began tearing through it an a nearly absurd rate. Nora could only laugh at how much Tao seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Easy, you're going to choke if you don't eat that thing a little slower," Ren ask as he came up holding a crepe in each hand. Shaking his head as Tao showed no sign of slowing, down he offered one of them to Nora. "Here, since you paid for one already."

"I thought you said you weren't going to treat me," she said in a knowing tone while giving a flirty wink. She'd been trying to get a reaction out of Ren, but he didn't say anything and only held the crepe out for her to take, which she eventually did.

"Tao! Hey Tao!" came a voice. It's owner was Sun Wukong, evidently searching the city streets for Tao because of sigh of relief he gave when he finally spotted her. "There you are, do you always have to run off when you smell something?"

"Meow, but Tao was hungry!" she protested with a full mouth before finally swallowing the crepe.

"Geeze," Sun said with a sigh before turning to Ren and Nora. "I'm really sorry about this…"

"Don't worry about it, our pleasure!" Nora told him as she gave him a confident thumbs up. "You want one too?"

"I… _We_ ate already, but thanks," Sun said, still giving the smallest of glares to Tao. "So… you guys students from _Beacon?_ "

"We are, and you must be those stowaways we heard about from Blake," Ren said, leaving Sun to grow relieved that it hadn't been _Makoto_ to tell them that. "You're here for the tournament then?"

"Yeah, I'm here a little early but that's plan," Sun told before smirking and tapping his chest. "Call me Sun, that hyper one you've obviously met it Taokaka."

"Ren."

"And I'm Nora! Nice ta meetchAAAAAAAAAA!?"

If there was ever a chance of breaking Ren's needlessly stoic exterior, seeing Nora be suddenly groped by Tao's jacket paws would certainly be one way to do it. Sun himself seemed shocked that the cat would try something like this in public. Nora's shock started to wane away as she started to become dangerously angry. Ren was about to step in… but decided Tao had earned this one.

"You… little…" Nora began as she winded up a punch that could break through cement.

"Mewow! These are really good!" Tao said honestly as she smiled at Nora. "Big and bouncy!"

' _SHE'S DESCRIBING THEM!?'_ Sun thought with horror as he started fearing for his friends life.

Nora paused for all of a moment before bringing her fist down, leaving both boys to close their eyes in a deep wince as they expected a shattering blow… only for nothing to come. Slowly opening them, they saw that Nora had instead putting an hand firmly on Tao's shoulder which had been enough to get her to let go. She was looking at her straight in the face with an expression that was plenty serious, but oddly not very angry.

"You really think they're good?" she asked. Tao nodded again in earnest. Nora's face seemed to light up as she gave Tao a big smirk. "Well, that's nice of you to say!"

"Yep! Really good!" Tao said, both of them seeming to have forgotten the gaping Sun and the frozen Run they had been accompanied with.

"Heh! You're all right Tao," Nora said with an honest smile.

"Meow? But you haven't even felt Tao's," the young cat said, tilting her head to the side.

"...What… the hell?" Sun could only mutter, not making any sense of the scene before him.

"...Hmm," Ren said, before finally beginning on his crepe by taking a large bite out of it. ' _Given how they both act, it's a match made in heaven really… And here I thought only Ragna met the strange ones.'_

 _Meanwhile_

' _I expected him to be a pain in the ass… but I wasn't expecting this kind of hell.'_

Ragna the Bloodedge's little spar with Azrael had lasted for several hours already and the area around them was starting to reflect that; tree's had become either completely uprooted or torn to shreds, the grass had been blown away from the forest's floor, there were deep cracks in the earth spreading all through their arena; everything several miles across was in pieces… understandably, the _Grimm_ had decided their mind their distance around these two. While there wasn't any noticeable scars or bruising since neither fighter had yet to get a clean hit in, both of them had gotten a fair bit of dirt on them in the fight so far.

' _Glad I ate a big breakfast,'_ Ragna thought to himself as he leaned back to dodge Azrael's haymaker attack before responding in kind with his sword, knowing full well he'd have to be fighting both Azrael and a growling stomach right now with all of the calories they'd been burning in their lengthy fight. The both of them then made an additional powerful swing which connected and sent both fighters sliding back on the floor. Readying his blade for the next clash, Ragna noticed that Azrael wasn't rushing back at him in much of a hurry. "What? We done already?"

"Not even close…" Azrael said with a growling temperament as he looked at Ragna's large blade. The chips and cracks on the weapon had already grown considerably worse, but the thing was still in one piece with no exceptionally large chunks of metal missing from it. "That should be in pieces by now… you're doing something with your _Drive_ powers to keep it together, is that it?"

"So you picked up on that then," Ragna decided as he impaled the blade in the ground next to him while keeping a solid grip on the handle. "What about it?"

"We've been fighting for hours, and that's all you've got to show for it?" Azrael asked with a small snarl. "I'm insulted."

"'Cause I don't like relying on my _Drive_ , what's your point?" the Reaper said with a scowl. "You're blaming me for holding back here, but you've barely shown off your own _Semblance_ since we've started. Who's really holding back between the two of us?"

"...Actually, that little field around me isn't my _Semblance_ so I haven't really shown you mine at all," Azrael admitted, his scowl slowly shifting to a small smirk. "Let's fix that…" Ragna wasn't sure what the _Mad Dog_ had in store for him… until the entire ground around him started to quake violently.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Ragna shouted as he felt the force of his shaking and had to make an effort to keep on his feet with its intensity. "Your damn _Semblance_ is an _Augmentation_ Type!?"

"The opposite; the _Enchanted Dragunov_ is a _Suppressor_ that keeps my real power under lock and key so I actually enjoy my fights!" Azrael told him with a feral gleam in his eyes, standing completely at ease in the chaos he was unleashing. "But don't feel too bad, I can't remember the last person that fought me hard enough that I had to release this first level."

' _First level?'_ Ragna thought to himself with worry. ' _If it were anyone other than that monster I'd think they'd be lying, but if it's Azrael…'_

The shaking then came to an abrupt stop as a powerful dust crowd erupted around the two. As the wave dissipated, a ghostly calm was felt by both warriors as they faced each other unmoving for a long minute. Their eyes locked into a harsh scowl between the _Mad Dog_ and the _Grim Reaper_.

(Cue _**Final Fantasy X**_ _Otherworld_ Extended)

Azrael then gave a short snarl before reeling his fist back into a titanic charge while he was still a good distance from Ragna. The Reaper's eyes grew wide as he felt the change in the air around him from that short movement. Roaring, he tore his sword out of the ground and made a desperate swing just as Azrael unleashed a massive attack with just the shockwave of his fist. The resulting clash result in a release of kinetic energy that bended the trees in half against its raw power. Chancing a glance behind him, Ragna saw that even though he'd split the attack right down the middle, the enraged had dissipated behind, resulting in two deep chasms that stretched out far behind him into the forest and were so deep that even with his enhanced sight he couldn't see the bottom of either of them.

"Thinking about showing me that _Drive_ of yours now?" Azrael taunted with a shifty grin. Turning back to his teammate, Ragna scowled at the _Mad Dog_. His opponent's face gave off the very definition of the word feral now, lacking not the physical but also the mental control that the full power of his semblance had obviously provided. Ragna's own glare at Azrael was something fierce… but nothing obvious about the _Grim Reaper_ had changed. "Tch… _**I'LL BEAT THAT HESITATION RIGHT OUT OF YOU!**_ "

Vanishing from sight, Azrael appeared in the air above Ragna and drove himself downward faster enough to create a sonic boom. Even if Ragna was wise enough to dive out of the way, pillars of earth were uprooted in a circle around the _Mad Dog._ Swinging his leg into a roundhouse kick, he blasted the rocks at the Reaper leaving Ragna to cleave them to pieces before making a reckless swing with his sword at a great distance from Azrael. He'd hoped that the shockwave he'd created from that slash would have sent his opponent off balance or at the very least phased him. What he got instead was Azrael raising that red aura around his body as he absorbed the unseeable attack.

' _Dammit, he can still use whatever the hell that thing is,'_ Ragna thought as he rolled to the side to closely avoid the fireball the _Mad Dog_ returned before leaping back to avoid his crater creating stomp. ' _I don't usually keep my distance in most fights, but the one time I'd like to do that my opponents not going to give me that chance. Just my luck.'_

Azrael then soared through air with and overhead kick that blasted Ragna back as he guarded against it. Regaining his footing, he was then force to guard against Azrael's rushing _**Gustav Buster**_ technique and only back held his footing. Seeing him charge up a double handed uppercut to send him up into the air, Ragna leaped back and avoid the attack at the last second before jumping at Azrael with a powerful leaping slash. His opponent not only sidestepped his attack with ease, but managed to catch Ragna's shirt collar.

" _ **GOT YOU,"**_ Azrael taunted before whipping Ragna around and forcing him to the ground. The Grim Reaper could only struggle to land on back of his feet and he was slammed down, feeling the absurd stress put on him from the force of the attack. Raising his free hand as he held the Reaper down, he brought down a devastating punch that might've spelled the end for Ragna right then and there. Swinging his sword as hard as he could, he managed to counter the attack and blast himself out of Azrael's grasp as his front collar tore itself in front of him. He'd be annoyed with his ruined outfit if he wasn't too worried with trouble Azrael was giving him.

In an instant Azrael was behind him again, throwing devastating kick out. Ragna barely managed to raise his sword to block the attack in time, but was sent stumbling back as a result. Azrael once again vanished and went directly behind Ragna to send a haymaker straight into his head. Ragna was forced to swing his own blade behind him as fast as he could, but once more the shockwave blasted him off of his feet. Rushing forward, Azrael held out his index finger and stopped just as the tip touched Ragna. One thing was for certain, this close range punch was going to hurt.

 _ **CLANG!**_

"Hah! Looks like I got you to bring it out after all!" Azrael shouted with a victorious smile as Ragna glared back, a glowing barrier erected between the two and the only thing that had prevented him from taking the devastating blow. The _Mad Dog_ was continuing to put heavy pressure upon the barrier like he was trying to force his way through it with his overwhelming might. Instead, Ragna dropped it and left Azrael to stumble forward as he leaped up to avoid the attack. Bringing his sword around in a deadly arc, Ragna's swing might've cut off the back of Azrael's neck had he not guard instead back was sent flying before again disappearing from view.

He attempted another clothesline on the Reaper, but this time Ragna unleashed a Golden Burst of energy around him, sending Azrael flying back. The _Mad Dog_ hadn't even touched the ground before Ragna caught up to him. Roaring, he swung his blade down with both of his hands. Azrael was force to guard against the heavy black but he felt the painful impact against the ground against his back. He was sent deep into the earth, several powerful cracks showing against the impact point. He tried to grab Ragna's blade and finally get his weapon out of the picture, but the Reaper brought it back before he could get it.

From where he was lying on the ground, Azrael tried to counter with a double leg blast, but Ragna's heavy upward swing sent him back into the air. Able to retain his ability to fight while airborne Azrael instead kicked off Ragna's slash and blasted himself back to gain some distance before rushing forward with another _**Gustav Buster**_. Ragna countered the attack with a slash of his own as the two continued to trade harsh blows with one another, each impact tearing the ground around them and causing them to sink even further into the crater their attacks were causing. After one exceptionally powerful clash, both fighters leapt back to gain some distance.

"Still no _**Drive**_ from you yet, eh?"Azrael demanded an excited grin on his face. "You know, bringing it out here might just save your life!"

"As if, you'd just drop another level of that _Restriction_ and we'd be right back to where we started," Ragna told him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to fight against my _**Drive**_."

"That right… HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Azrael roared as he rushed forward with a feral look in his eyes.

' _Crap… this getting tougher,'_ Ragna thought to himself, starting to worry about how their exchange was turning.

(End theme)

 _ **Substory Nine: Pastimes of Noble Men**_

"What the hell…?" Kagura Mutsuki swore as he accidentally spilled some of his green tea onto the table. Glancing around the room nothing seemed to be amiss, but looks could often be deceiving. "You feel that?"

"Trying to come up with excuses for your clumsy hands?" Jin questioned curtly as he sat across the _Black Gale_ , reading an old and tattered looking tome through his reading glasses.

"My hands are as skillful as they come; just ask the ladies back at the academy," Kagura bosted, an action which the Kisaragi heir fully decided to ignore. The two were currently at the Kisaragi estates for their break away from _Beacon_. It had been a long flight to get here and the two were sitting down for some small R-and-R after their week of finals. "So… mind telling me why you're reading those musty old stories?"

"None of your business," Jin told him off trying to resume his reading. He didn't get far as Kagura quickly reached across the table to snatch the book out of his hands. "Honestly…"

"Huh, the story of the broken old man and the four maidens that healed him… Kind of weird that you'd be interested in a children's book of all thi…" He paused as he got it, slowly shaking his head as he handed the book back to Jin who harshly snatched it away. "Does this have something to do with your brother?"

"So you're not a complete idiot then," Jin said as he continued reading. "I'd like it if you'd dropped that issue here."

"You should know me well enough by now to know that's not going to happen, especially with how bored you're keeping me," Kagura said before sighing. "Honestly, I know meeting up at our estates is tradition at this point, but are we going to keep doing this when all you do is ignore me?"

"Maybe you'd actually have someone to speak to if you hadn't purposefully informed Hibiki that we were meeting at the Mutsuki estate this week," Jin reminded.

"Eh, he'd just be grilling me on what I've been up to anyways," Kagura decided as he went to sip his tea.

"Then you'll have to settle for silence then, I'm busy," Jin said as he continued to read over his book.

"But I can't say that I approve of using Team _RWBY_ to get at your brother for something, that's just a line you shouldn't cross."

"I'm not _using_ them for anything, I'm just trying to stay prepared for when nature finally takes its course," Jin told him as he continued reading. ' _He said that he's going to try to keep both his cause from the past and his relationships in the present… could his past really push him that far? If it can, I'll have to double my own efforts after all.'_

"Well I'm sure you know that nature's course is going to have one major bump in the road, but I guess that's why you're planning now aren't you?" Kagura was expecting Jin to say something, but his standing silence was actually worrying him. "Wait… you do know… right?"

"Know what? Either be out with it or hold your tongue," Jin demanded as he continued looking through the pages of the original writing of the fairytale.

"Promise you won't stab the messenger first," Kagura told him seriously. Jin didn't say anything as he continued reading. "Not liking that respond much. You know how at dinner last night you kept getting asked if you'd met Weiss Schnee, if the two of you had ever partnered up before, things like that?"

"Hmph, my family was likely wondering if I'd pursue a friendship with the Schnee's family heir. I'm sure any relations that I could manage with her now would be invaluable in future engagements."

"Yeah well… what if _engagement_ was the key word here?" Kagura said, though it was clear that he didn't care much for the term. "I told you that my family had met the Schnee's at that gathering a little before finals week, right? I didn't know it at the time, but apparently the head of your family was there also. It sounded like Weiss's father was really interested in you; especially if you had a girlfriend…"

"I'll grant you that certainly sounds suspicious, but I still doubt I have anything to concern myself with," Jin told Kagura as he eventually set his book down before reaching for his own cup of tea. He paused as he was about to grab it, discovering a deep crack in a set that was usually seen as polished and perfect. "Hmm… though I suppose even if we're not businessmen, my family does have a couple of minor dealings with important companies throughout all four kingdoms."

"That's what I'm getting at, and the first person that would want to use those dealings would be the head of the _Schnee Dust Company_ ," Kagura said as Jin took a long sip of his tea. "Speaking strictly as friends here, how do you feel about Weiss in the first place?"

"I don't, positive or negative. She's just a classmate and that's the extent of which that I see her." ' _That… and one of the four main points that's keeping my brother anchored in reality.'_ "Though maybe if I treated her poorly on the surface that might be enough to dissuade her father's attempts."

"Wrong, very wrong," Kagura said with a sad look in his eyes. "When was the last time you ever saw him with his wife in public? It's clear that Jacques Schnee would never let something like his daughter's unhappiness get in the way of a business venture."

"I'm surprised that you've given this so much thought," the Kisaragi heir admitted, giving Kagura a genuine compliment. "But enough beating around the bush, if you have an idea for how to get me out of this predicament I want you to say so."

"Well… there's Tsubaki." The small hiss from between Jin's teeth clear up how he felt at that idea. "I'm just saying that it might be for the best that you two be a little more open to each other from here on out. If Jacques found out that he was trying to wedge himself between an already blooming relation between two of the high houses it might just be enough for him to back off and look elsewhere."

"You're ignoring the fact that there's no such relation between Tsubaki and I," Jin reminded. "And if you're about to suggest that we fake something I would never ask that from her… And it wouldn't be believable because-"

"Hey, we don't need to go into _that_ right now. Tsubaki's family secrets are safe with me and I'll keep it that way," Kagura genuinely promised. "Although… you know that out of everyone you're probably the highest up on the current Yayoi head's 'potential Son-in-law' list."

"You can't possibly say that for sure," the blond told him, his scowl tightening as Kagura continued to step over the line. "Any _other_ options?"

"Just to take things in stride if you're going to be so stubborn," the Mutsuki heir decided, giving a disappointed sigh and facepalm. "I'll let you know if I ever hear word of Jacques planning to make a move or to have him force things between the two of you, but past that I-"

"Thank you."

"...First you actually bother to hear me out and now you're thanking me, you're just full of surprises today," Kagura told him, though he actually managed a small smile. "Is Weiss who you're pulling for then?"

"I'm not pulling for anyone or anything to happen on that matter, drop it," Jin said as he raised his cup to once more. It was then that there was a small knock at the door. Curious on who would be hoping to see them, he rose to his feet and headed to open the door as Kagura sat and sipped his tea. Opening the doorway, Jin actually allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he saw who was on the other side. "Nice to see that you made it."

"Kind of you to say. I _did_ have to go through two long flights to get here."

The very sound of the voice was enough to cause Kagura to spew the tea he'd been drinking. He looked at the doorway with dread as a familiar boy with a bowl cut headed into the library, his eyes narrowly fixed on Kagura as he gave a calm but somehow sadistic smile.

"When I informed your parents of your _mistake_ they gladly provided me with funds for a second trip… taken out of your savings of course," Hibiki said, only seeming to twist the dagger with his words. "Now then, how have you been _getting along_ this last semester?"

 _ **Substory Ten: Reflecting Habits**_

"Gods above, I got rid of sore points and pops and didn't even know I had with that bath," Makoto said with a deep sigh as she entered Tsubaki's bedroom. She was currently wearing a light orange bathrobe (which of course had a cutout for her tail). Heading towards the other girls that were all sitting around in a circle wearing their own bathrobes, she took a seat between Mai and Noel. "I miss anything good?"

"Not too much, just talking about studying and finals," Noel said to he friend. Her bathrood was skyblue and she had hair done into a bun after her own lengthy bath. She gave a giggle as Makoto groaned at the topic. "Come on Makoto, you did pretty well on the test scores this time around."

"Only because my physical tests managed to keep me out of the lower percentiles for our year," she admitted with a harsh groan. "If Tsubaki hadn't stepped in and helped me out with her study guide I probably would've flunked no matter how high those were."

"Not for lake of trying, you were up past midnight study all week and you-"

"I don't want to talk about it! I don't even want to _think_ about studying right now!" Makoto shouted as Mai giggled nervously beside her. "Let's talk about something else, anything else."

"Like what? You've already caught up and talked plenty back at _Beacon_ ," Celica said as she laid back in her pure white bathrobe.

"...We could talk about _boys_ ," Makoto said with a mischievous grin as she turned to Tsubaki. "So how have things been between you and-?"

"If you refuse to talk about studying then I refuse to talk about our relationships or lack thereof so casually," Tsubaki said, quickly putting her foot down… which might've been hard for anyone else to pull of in scarlet red bath robe.

"Spoilsport," the demi-human sighed. "But then what are we going to talk about while we're waiting for dinner? We haven't had a lot of free time with finals and everything."

"...What if we combine the two?" Mai strangely suggested in her bathrobe that was the same color of her hair. "Since we don't want to talk about boys or studying, what if we actually talked about how the boys usually study? I haven't seen how Jin usually studies for a test anyhow."

"You know that actually sounds kinda interesting," Makoto admitted as she turned to Tsubaki. "So? When you weren't studying with us it was usually you and Jin working together, what was that like?"

"It was… mostly for my benefit actually," Tsubaki admitted as she thought back to the two working together. "Jin has a policy of whenever he begins studying for the test he always has a first night cram where he studies hard like he has a test the next morning. The rest of the time is usually used for small review sessions to keep the knowledge fresh."

"Coulda figured that one, Jin's always been to very picture of responsible," Makoto said with a sigh as she remembered how rigid he had been back at _Flare_ Academy. "What about that dork Kagura, he do what he usually does; get into a group of female students and trying to put the moves while studying with them while he practically steals their study sheets?"

"You can bad talk Kagura all you want, but he actually got decent marks in all of the subjects," Mai admitted as she remembered looking over the result sheets. "He's probably flirting with them because that's the one of the few ways he can actually sit down and focus."

"Hmph, I still say if he spent half as much time studying as he spent skirt chasing he might actually be at the top of the class," her partner insisted, patronizing the _Black Gale_ like she usually did. "What about that big beasty guy, Azrael or whatever his name was?"

"He's...kind of a mixed bag," Noel had to admit. "It can actually take a lot for me to tell him to sit down and study. He'll always say something like 'why do I need knowledge when I crush any problem to pieces' or something like that." Her impression of Azrael as she puffed out her chest made all of the girls laugh (sadly, Azrael's chest is likely _much_ bigger than Noel's). "Once you actually get him down to studying though, he actually treats it really seriously, it's like he always wants to finish what he's started and won't make any exceptions."

"Hehe, I could kinda tell just by looking at Azrael," Celica said with a giggle. "I had a studying session with Amane and it was a ton of fun! We kept doing Yoga stretches together while quizzing each other about certain parts that we'd studied to up until that point. He's really smart when it comes to answering stuff and he doesn't ever get distracted."

"That certainly sounds like Amane," Tsubaki said as she thought about the flowery dancer and the joyous laugh he always seemed to have.

"Which just leaves one last guy," Makoto said as she looked at Tsubaki. "So? Ragna the Bloodedge anything like the responsible Jin Kisaragi or is he more of a _delinquent_ and holds off all of his studying for the last minute?" There was a pregnant silence as neither Tsubaki nor Noel said anything. "Huh?"

"He's… sort of an odd one whenever it comes to studying. Whenever we had a quiz or smaller exam coming up, he'd usually insist on studying alone." Tsubaki realized that a part of this might've been the tension that she'd created between the two, but consider that this behavior had continued after their supposed 'make-up' she didn't bother commenting that. "He studies hard though, and he's spent some nights studying until classes the next morning even. And he's not what you'd call a quick learner… he's just one of the types that's truly ready to put work in, no matter how much he complains about it."

"Doesn't sound so unusual so far," Mai noted. "We knew someone back at Haven that was just like that."

"Right, well… add in Team _RWBY_ and things start to get complicated," Noel said. "When Tsubaki said that we could almost never convince Ragna to study with us, that other team was always a whole other story. After studying with them the first few times he'd try to say that he wasn't interested and try to study on his own, but they'd never have it as they practically dragged him off by force to study with them."

"Huh? They were forcing him?" innocent little Celica replied, too young and naive to have seen such things even in plain sight.

"You have no idea, sometimes he'd even be put in a chokehold by Yang as she dragged him off to the library," Tsubaki said, though she did consider that Ragna never seemed to fight as much as he'd shown that he could once he was in said chokehold. "Eventually though, he stopped fighting all together and simply went with them to the library to study, though he'd still mutter a crass complaint or two under his breath. Even the few times we did get him to come with us to the library, that team wouldn't be too far behind us and would join our group out of nowhere to study… and I got the feeling that they were being protective of Ragna."

"More often than not that protection would go both ways," Noel said as she thought back to one such event when the two groups were studying for midterms. "There was this one girl… I don't know what her problem was, but she seemed to have a serious bone to pick with Ragna. She kept making one off handed remark after another at Ragna's expense for the whole library to hear and she was saying some particularly nasty things. I expected Ragna to get upset, but mostly he just sat there unimpressed. After a while she started to realize that so she started to insult Team _RWBY_ and that was what started to get under his skin. I was about to leave to grab a teacher because she was going so far over the line, but then she compared that friend of Makoto's to... _a stray cat in heat._ "

"...And here I thought _Beacon_ was supposed to be a Fanus lenient academy," Makoto said, a deep venom underneath her words at the insult. "So… Ragna responded?"

"He did," Tsubaki said as she slumped her head forward. "He sent that girl straight to the infirmary… literally… through eight walls."

"Hah! Nice," Makoto said, her attitude turning a bit more cheery as she realized that Blake was putting her trust into someone much more moral this time around. "He seemed to be a hard nut to crack when I first saw 'em, but I'm starting to like this guy."

"Well don't like him too much; he _did_ get stuck with mop duty over the weekend for his overreaction," Tsubaki said as she shook her head… before remember the full story. "And there was _RWBY_ again, still coming to his defence, even though in the end he convinced everyone that it was his fault he'd flown off the handle."

"He's really got something special going on with them then," Mai said as she thought back to how'd they'd been acting even when they'd first met. There was then a small knock at the door.

"I beg your pardon ladies, but your dinners will be ready soon," said one of the Yayoi estate maids from outside the room. "If you all could get ready and join us in the dining hall soon, we would delighted to get the meal started."

"We'll be ready," Tsubaki called before turning to the others. "Let's get dressed then, bath robes don't seem to be the proper things to be wearing to dinner."

"Speak for yourself, I could practically fall asleep here and now in this thing," Makoto said as she stretched out in her attire, only to see her with a clear look of disappointment. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's just… I kind of wish Noel had made something, I've been dying for some of her cooking and I didn't even get a chance to try some back at Beacon."

"I know Mai, just hold on a little longer," Tsubaki tried to insist to her friend. "Tell you what, try to eat something at dinner and if you're really hungry afterwards I'll let Noel use the kitchen for a little bit tonight."

"You mean it!?" Mai said as both she and Noel looked at the redhead with sparkles in their eyes as Makoto cringed at the thought of cooking. "You're the best Tsubaki!"

"It's nothing, really," the hostess tried to downplay. ' _Note to self: provide cleanup crew with hazmat suits.'_

 _ **Substory Eleven: Arc of the Family**_

' _I get the distinct feeling that Ragna was trying to warn me about something like this,'_ Jaune thought to himself as he sat the dinner table with his family. Much like he'd told his classmate during his late practice, he had headed home for the vacation to visit with his family. Having meeting Pyrrha had been a slightly nerve wracking prospect at first, but she was certainly getting along well with his own family… almost a little too well.

"Who does your hair? That ponytail you have is fantastic!" one of his sisters said as she looked at the scarlet locks kept perfectly together.

"I just do it myself, it's probably a little undone after such a long trip to get here," Pyrrha said, staying composed around the eager collection of Jaune's sisters.

"I wish my hair was as pretty as yours. I mean I love having blonde hair, but do you think I'd look good in red?"

"Oh, I'm sure that you'd look great in just about anything," she told the other sister with a sincere smile on her face.

"It's so awesome to be meeting a celebrity for the first time! I still can't believe we're actually eating with you!"

"I'm not that popular…" the huntress in training tried to dissued. Jaune didn't say anything, relieved for the moment that all of the attention was off of him.

"So Jaune, have you been eating alright at _Beacon Academy_?" one of his sisters asked, turning the attention back onto him. "You're not just hiding your vegetables and heading straight for the desert like you tried to do with us?"

"I-! I never did that!" Jaune shouted in his defense, only to notice Pyrrha tilting her head as this was a conversation that the two had already shared. Now thanks to his sisters, he was going to have to make an _extra_ effort with the vegetables.

"What about that raggedy hair of yours? Aren't you taking any time each morning to style it like we had practiced?"

"I mean… I _try_ to make time for it, but I sort of have a busy routine," Jaune tried to say, quickly realizing that no one was believing him. "Ugh…"

"All I'm really worried about is that sweater that you're wearing," came the voice of Jaune's mother. The only Arc son went pale; no matter what his sisters would ever manage to do to him in front of Pyrrha, his mother could be a thousand times worse. "I've always said that you need a new change in attire, but all you've ever worn is that _Pumpkin Pete_ shirt that you won in that raffle."

"...Your shirt has _Pumpkin Pete_ on it?" his partner asked, causing a strong blush on Jaune's face. "I think I'm with your mother on this one Jaune, you definitely need a change of attire."

"But Pyrrha-"

"How many times have you done laundry at the academy only to wash that one sweatshirt that you're always wearing?"

"...Et tu, partner?" Jaune demanded, a reasonable response in his eyes as he was mercilessly backstabbed.

"Lucky for you, everyone here has chipped in to make you something you can wear," his mother said, reaching under the dinner table and bringing out a small gift bag which she brought over to her son. Looking at the bag in awkward fear, Juane didn't offer a word of thanks. "Well, go on and open it!"

"Here and now?" Jaune asked nervously, looking over to his father and hoping for some kind of desperate support. He didn't get it as his father only shrugged, likely that he'd chipped into the present as well. Slowly opening the gift bag, he brought out the content from inside… and struggled not to gag. "Oh… a sweater."

It was a sweater all right, but since it had been made by his family it was the kind of present that you'd say you've worn it, but at the most you've worn in private or when there was nothing else to wear and you needed to do laundry. It was a long sleeve turtleneck shirt that was a combination of yellow on top of black, hard on the eyes and likely to make Jaune look like a bumble bee.

"It looks… great," Jaune saud, tried to keep his tone natural and forcing himself not to shoot his partner the stink eye as she was trying her hardest not to laugh. "I'll try it on la-"

"Try it on now!" one of his sister's told him, apparently excited to see Jaune in his the new clothing. "You shouldn't even be wearing your armor at the table!"

"I-! Uh… This is our family armor!" Jaune protested, trying to find reason to keep his armor on. "It's only right that I keep wearing it! Besides, Pyrrha's still wearing her armor!"

"Because she's a guest and pulls the look off better," one of his sisters told him bluntly. "Now come on, we all want to see how you look in that sweater!"

' _Here goes any respect Pyrrha hasn't already lost for me,'_ Jaune thought with a sigh as he listened to his sisters, starting by taking off his breastplate armor. He could hear the knowing giggle from his sisters as he unveiled the _Pumpkin Pete_ logo on his shirt, though Pyrrha tried to stay quite. Taking off his sweatshirt, he braced himself before trying on the _bumblebee_ sweater.

"Wait, hold on a second," one of his sister's said as she tried to get a good look at her brother. "Jaune… did you put on some muscle?"

"Eh?" he asked, looking down at his arms which he could actually do in his short sleeve t-shirt. While he still couldn't say that he was _ripped,_ his arms certainly looked like they'd gained some serious volume in the months he'd spent at the academy. Pyrrha certainly seemed to notice this and was sending Jaune a proud smile, silently praising him for his efforts. "Y-yeah, I have. Had to get something after all of that work I've put in." His celebration was short lived as he knew he still had to try on the infernal sweater. Trying to put it on once he'd put it on over his head proved to be a struggle as he tried to pull it down. "Mmmmmph!"

"Stop! Stop! You're going to stretch it!" his mother shouted. Jaune was only too quick to comply. "I can't believe this, but it seems that you've outgrown it before you've even tried it on thanks to your muscle… I was wondering why our armor didn't look as baggy on you this time around."

' _I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank god for the murder training,'_ Jaune could only think as he looked at the sweater that he actually got out of wearing before his actual sweatshirt. He was finally at the top of the world and maybe now his family would start taking him a little more seriously.

"Wait, how come his _Pumpkin Pete_ shirt still fits him? He's already been wearing that for years before he even took off for _Beacon_ ," one of his sisters asked.

"Probably because he's worn it so much that he's already stretched it out," another said. "He probably doesn't even fit into anything else… which means-!"

"...Mercy," Jaune could only beg.

"SHOPPING TRIP!" his family all called out as one, leaving him to slump in his seat. Pyrrha tried to send him and encouraging smile, but it was clear Jaune was too slumped in his own seat to notice it. With all of his family going rapid fire with each other coming with outfits that they could dress their brother in she could kind of get it… but at the same time she was actually a little jealous.

 _Back to the Battlefield_

By this point the terrain the two titans had started their fighting on wasn't even recognizable; it had been flattened, ripped up, and flattened again several times too many. Deep creates and canyons littered the few miles that the two were using to contain their fighting and not a single sign of life was left in the area. Despite any negativity Azrael might've been producing due to his battlelust, any _Grimm_ and wildlife that were supposed to be anywhere in the area had been scared off long ago, some probably thinking their scuffle was some high end earthquake. Ignoring what had transpired though, Ragna and Azrael were facing each other in what was one of their their quieter moments. They weren't stopping due to exhaustion… only because even in his released state Azrael had wanted to stop fight for a few minutes and Ragna was taking that chance.

"...I've got something going on after this," he told Azrael, his hand still tightly gripping his sword. Even with him protecting the armament using one of his _Drive's_ granted abilities it was a wonder how Ragna was still using his sword. In the daylong combat the blade had been horridly cracked, lost chunks of its metal, and had a horridly dulled edge. But what else was Ragna going to be using here? "...I want this finished."

"That's fine with me, but you're an odd one to fight," Azrael told him, scowling in the Reaper's direction. "Something about the way you fight and move is becoming... _unnatural_. I can't put my finger on it, but you're no normal student are you?"

"Wow, and the award for the biggest 'NO SHIT' observation goes too…" Ragna told him crassly, though he actually managed a cocky smirk despite himself. This expression was returned by the _Mad Dog_ in full.

(Cue **Crisis Core"** _ **Final Fantasy VII**_ _Soldier Battle_ Extended)

The two started slowly walking in a circle, staring each other down as they readied themselves to resume their duel which was quickly heading towards its climax. There was obvious tension in their staredown like there always was… but now it was different, almost like there was a bizarre form of respect mixed into there as well.

"So you're not going to be dropping another level of your semblance?"

"No, if I did I'd pulverize you before I actually got a chance to enjoy myself. Now what would the point of that be?"

"Tch, if that's how you want to play it. Let's go then."

This time Ragna took the first rush forward and swung his sword against Azrael's guard. The _Mad Dog_ easily blocked the strike with only a single arm before throwing his other fist in a downward spike, crushing the ground as Ragna leaped into the air and spun forward. Blocking the overhead strike, Azrael went for a powerful skyward kick and would've hit the Reaper dead on it he hadn't activated his Barrier and allowed himself to be blasted back.

Landing to the floor, he dodge Azrael's jab before countering his kick with his heavy sword. As Azrael's clothesline came in for the final hit of his combination, the Reaper guarded against the attack with only his arm.

' _He blocked that one without his sword or barrier!?'_ Azrael thought before seeing Ragna raised his sword. He readied himself to dodge, but perched at the sudden pain at behind roundhouse kicked in the rips. ' _And he can brawl without a weapon now… Interesting.'_

Quickly, shaking off the hit he had taken. Azrael then charged up a powerful kick, gathering energy before as he held the move right in front of Ragna. The Reaper of course slash him across with his sword, but even though it made direct contact the _Mad Dog_ didn't seem to take damage with the state he was in. Before the Reaper could counter the attack, he was blasted in the chest by the heavy kick and sent flying back. He couldn't even regain his footing as he skidded across the ground, leaving a long trail of earth behind him.

Azrael didn't bother waiting for Ragna to get up from that impact, driving his hand deep into the earth brought up a total wave of uprooted earth which head straight for the Reaper. Ragna managed to propel himself back to avoid the attack as it passed him by. Running forward toward each other, both warriors continued to clash. Ragna still utilized his sword but by this point he was reluctant to use it for every attack here. Most of the time he countered Azrael's strikes with some unarmed combat of his own… though maybe trying to overpower him with a headbutt was a bad idea.

Digging his fist into the ground again, Azrael tried to raise a pillar of earth just as Ragna stepped back to avoid it. Breaking through it with his first, he force Ragna to call on his barrier to guard himself from the attack. Hurling the rock upward, he watched as Ragna cleave through it before landing in front of him. Both fighters unleashed wicked hooks with their first which connected and a created a powerful shockwave. Swinging his black around, Ragna managed to deflect Azrael's kick to the side. As his opponent prepared a double armed uppercut, Ragna brought his blade down in a vicious overhead. The two attacks clashed and sent both force back from the collision.

"HAH! YOU'VE REALLY GOT SOMETHING THERE!" Azrael called out as both warriors stopped in their slide. "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOU WHEN I FORCED MY WAY INTO THIS ACADEMY! I THOUGHT MY ONLY HUNT WOULD BE OZPIN AND THE TEACHERS!"

"That's all this is to you, right? One big fight…" Ragna muttered as he tried to keep his sword up. The truth about the Reaper was that there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't crying out in pain. This fight had gone on for so long and he hadn't managed to kill a single _Grimm_ during the entire encounter. His blade was going to fall apart any second now and he knew that… but damn him if he wasn't starting to see why Azrael was so excited at fighting. "...You ready to finish this?"

"OF COURSE! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Both fighters charged a powerful final charge forward, readying themselves for the a final blow. Around Azrael the ground started to give way as he twisted his entire body back, charing all of his power into this final onslaught. " _ **BLACK HAWWWWWWK-!"**_

On Ragna's side of the field, Ragna brought his borrowed blade up and pointed it behind him, the ground also cracking around his own terrible power. A sort of black aura started to flicker around the Grim Reaper, but he looked like he was trying his damndest to keep it down. It couldn't get in the way… not now. " _ **CARNAGEEEEE-!"**_

A final explosion of power as both fighters launched themselves.

" _ **STINGER!"**_ " _ **SCISSORS!"**_

The haymakers struck and Ragna the clash was echoed across the forest. Azrael watched on with feral satisfaction, watching as he final finished destroying Ragna's sword. The Reaper stared in horror as the giant and broken blade finally broke free, leaving him holding just a bit of chipped blade on the hilt as the rest of the sword sailed high into the air. Azrael reeled back for the final strike and

"IT'S OVER!" Ragna shouted as he leaped into the air after the blade, narrowly missing Azrael's fist. Roaring, he hit the broken blade with an axe kick and spiked it down at the _Mad Dog._ Azrael barely had time to raise his _**Growler Field**_ to absorb the launched projectile… but he didn't have enough to dodge Ragna's dive downward, cutting him across the chest with all that remained of his sword.

(End Theme)

"GAH!"

As Ragna finished his slash with the decimated weapon there was an uncomfortable silence between the two in the middle of the open field. Azrael didn't fall over the damage he had taken, in face he didn't even give a shout of pain or slump forward. He just stood there there in front of Ragna, almost like a statue if it weren't for the bloody gash on his chest that was continue to bleed profusely. As terrible of a weapon as it still was, Ragna made a quick swipe with chipped hilt to clean it of the blood and held it at his side as he tried to stay ready should the encounter continue.

"...Heh….Heh heh heh..."

"Huh?"

It started off light and small, just a regular chuckle as if Ragna had made a joke that Azrael had found mildly amusing. Then it slowly started to grow louder and more intense, then even further still. Eventually Azrael was roaring with laughter, the powerful sounds echoing across the ruined landscape. Ragna didn't say anything, just standing their with his chipped blade in a sense of awe.

"When was the last time I've been hurt?" Azrael asked as he looked up at the orange sky. It would be dark soon enough and Ragna would be late for whatever he'd wanted to finish the fight for earlier. A part of him was worried that now Azrael couldn't stop himself from continuing the fight… but evidently the _Mad Dog_ had more control than that as he slumped forward and begun to relax. "Trust me, I'd love nothing more than to get you to keep going… but I guess you've won this round."

"Good, glad to see even you know something about self control," Ragna muttered as he looked at the chipped blade he'd been using. Giving a sigh he tossed the small piece behind him, no longer having a use for the armament. "So we're good then?"

"For now… one of these days I'll be getting that _real_ fight out of you… but until then I can play the part of a _Tamed Dog_ ," Azrael told him, cracking his knuckles despite the fight already being well past over. "The next break we get though… we'll do this _all over again_. That should keep me satisfied."

"We'll see if I'm feeling up for it," Ragna reclusively before glancing at Azrael's chest. "...You should probably get that looked at."

"This scratch? Don't worry it'll heal quickly, you shouldn't go and give yourself too much credit now," Azrael informed with another laugh. Shaking his head, Ragna started his treck back to Beacon with Azrael following shortly behind him. "One thing I want to know though, what was you just _had_ to use to cut our fight short? It had better be something _good._ "

"You're probably going to be disappointed then," Ragna admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "I've just got movie plans with the girls tonight. No idea what we're seeing, but Yang would murder me if I was late." Another chuckle from Azrael, something had made him more humorous than usual tonight. "What're laughing at?"

"Nothing, just…" he sent Ragna a nasty grin. "Maybe I'm starting to be content with the fact that I'm not the _highest_ power you'll be answering to. There are some thing even I know not to get between."

"...Shut up…" Ragna muttered at as Azrael continued a hearty laugh. The Grim Reaper didn't even bother trying to hide his smile this time.

 _ **Substory Twelve: The Approaching Threat**_

"I'm not far outside of Vale city, I should be there within a few more days or so," a young woman in a crimson hood said into her scroll. "Just do your best not to draw attention to yourselves until then; I don't want any hell to be raised while I'm not there." Chatter on the other line. "Yes, you my permission to slap him if he tries anything funny. I'll see you then."

Soon, she could only help but think wickedly. Soon that city would be brought to crushing ruin. Soon the powers that she'd sought would become _fully_ hers. Soon she'd have her revenge against the upstart who caused her to flee. There was chaos on the horizon, lots of it… and she wanted it all.

Glancing around the forrest around her, she took note the _Grimm_ who were slowly approaching her giving low growls as they came near. She didn't falter against them, nor did she prepare to slay said creature. She just sat near her small campfire and stared them down, knowing full well that it was she who was in charge here. Eventually the Grimm backed down and retreated.

"Hmph, stupid beasts," she said, almost disappointed that they didn't have enough spine to try and fight her.

"You're telling me."

That voice came so sudden and out of nowhere that she couldn't help but get to her feet and bring out her flaming weaponry. Once she had though, she nearly swore at herself at the reflex. This man… he'd wanted to get that jump out of her. It almost like it seemed like his main goals was to annoy the hell out of his allies instead of trying to actually make any real plans around their enemy's movements.

"Jumpy, aren't we Cindy?" the man said as he brush off his black fedora, calling the young lady by her pet name.

"...That's Cinder you snake," Cinder finally told him, too annoyed to not let his pet names bother her. Even if this man was technically on her side, that didn't mean that she trusted him one bit. As such she kept her weaponry out and kept it ready to use it on him should he ever decide to turn on her. "What are you doing here?"

"Aw, don't tell me that you're not even the slightest bit happy to see me? And here I thought we had something special here," he told her gripping his chest like he was actually hurt by her accusations.

"Did you think you had something special with Torchwick or did you just purposefully screw him over?" Cinder demanded trying to keep her tone even.

"Screw him over, you completely misunderstand my reasoning," he tried to tell her. "I had _valuable information_ , such valuable information and I passed it along without asking for a thing in return. I gave him the chance to prepare for the road bump and attempt to save face, but he completely lost that chance. I even called in some help to get him out before he was torn to bloody bits… now why would I _ever_ screw over a friend like that?"

"These games of yours are starting to annoy me," she told him as she gathered flames to her hand, preparing to cast it onto the man in front of her with one hand while holding her flaming weapon in the other. "Back off or I'll turn you to ashes!"

"Oh, and how many times have you given me _that_ threat?" he asked, apparently not amused by her powers. Cinder's eyes narrowed as she held strong, wondering if this time things would finally come to blows. It would prove not to as the enigmatic man merely adjusted his hat. "Lucky for the both of us I'm move of a lover than a fighter."

"Don't you dare lie, I know that you're clearly neither of those things," she said, reluctantly dropping her weaponry. "You know something, I'm actually happy that I'll have to go to that blasted academy if it means that I no longer have to deal with you."

"Don't say that! Think of all of the visits I can pop in for!" he offered. "I'm sure that I can find the time in my busy schedule!"

"You damn demon…" she swore at him. She stared that man down who's hatred almost seemed to be a necessity for him. There was something about him that had pissed her off even upon their first meeting he'd only tried to aggravate her further by his words and actions. She sometimes thought that he was the main focus of his spite… but that was meant for someone else… "Actually…"

"Hmm? Do you have something to say?"

"At _Beacon_ … that boy that you have such a focus on. The one that you _need_ to hate you." Her look began to get cocky. " _He's_ there, isn't he?"

" _Need_? Pft, I don't _need_ that thing for anything. I just happened to pass him by on my road here while I've been doing my job," he informed her, keeping a solid poker face at her claims. "But yes, I guess that he might be there, what's your point?"

"If you need him so much, _**Hazama**_ , what if I decided to keep him off of the playing field?" His cocky smirk fell as he looked at this upstart in front of him. She'd gotten to him, she knew she had. "Or better yet, what if I gave something to actually hate. Something that consume his rage so much… he'd just up and forget about you."

"...Huh… heh… heh heh…" Hazama chuckled to himself as he shook his head, a more gentle smile upon his face this time. "You're more than welcome to try, but you'd never manage no matter what you tried to do to him." He smiled. "What I've already done to him… he'll _never_ forget."

"Then you've got nothing to lose," she bit back. "Maybe this time you'll be the one hurting."

"Maybe, best of luck Cindy," he said, calling her again by his pet name for her as he began walking off. "Just know that you've got a lot riding on you this time; I'd hate for this to be another Torchwick."

With him finally gone, Cinder turned her attention back to her fire and stared deep into its flames. Maybe she'd only said that at first to shut him up… but now such prospect was starting to interest her the more she thought about it.

 _ **Substory Thirteen: Hiding**_

"...Been a while since I've last worn this old thing, glad as hell it still fits I guess," Ragna muttered to himself as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Almost takes me back… heh, what am I? Some old man?"

After his 'little spar' with Azrael had finally ended, he'd needed to get himself with an outing with Team _RWBY_. Knowing what they were like, he'd ended up showering beforehand (though even he could admit that he was probably smelling pretty rank by this point). He'd only recently gotten out of the showers so his hair wasn't nearly as gravity defying as it usually was. That alone would have been enough of a change, but this was perhaps the first time in a while that Ragna was going without his classic red coat.

The coat he wore had some special properties, like being able to repair itself from damage as long as Ragna was wearing it, but it wouldn't be fully repaired in time of his little outing after all of the wear and tear it had gone through in this battle. Ragna had instead grabbed an old out fit of his. A sleeveless red and black vest along with a spare pair of baggy black pants. This only thing that he was still wearing was his metal plated shoes and even those he'd needed to polish so that they'd look decent after the scuffle.

"Gotta say, this thing still looks pretty good on me," the Reaper had to admit with something of a smirk as he looked over himself. "Maybe I should start wearing this thing again." He tried to keep smiling, but it he couldn't keep it up as he looked to his right arm. "Maybe I would, if I didn't always have this thing to hide."

Where flesh should have been was a collection of dark, nightmarish wrapping that when all the way from his elbow down to his apparently gloved hand. Looking at this thing brought back memories of how he'd gotten it… bad idea. Gritting his teeth, the Reaper tried to focus his power into the arm. He winced harshly as his arm glowed with a powerful back flame. He felt himself flare up with pain as the flames continued to harshly consume his arm… until finally they faded away and all that was left was a normal looking right arm. He hadn't changed the appendage so much as he'd hidden its true form, containing some of his power to try and appear human… with all of the benefits and pain that it brought him. He couldn't managed this very often, and twisted the human looking arm around to get proper feeling back into it.

"God dammit, I hate looking at this thing." Seeing his arm like this only served as a constant reminded to what he'd lost, how he'd been wrong… and that the man responsible for it all was still out there. Ragna tried to clear his mind from these negative thoughts, but they were hard to ignore when they were out in the open like that. As a dark aura formed around him he tried to remember his master's teaching and-

There was a sudden knock on his door. The aura around him flickered.

"Ragna! Come on! The movie is starting soon!" came Ruby's voice on the other side of the door. "We've gotta going if we're going to grab good seat and plenty of popcorn!"

...Ragna smirked as the aura around him faded. Maybe, just maybe there was something here to distract him after all. Stepping outside he saw Weiss, Blake, and Yang waiting for him.

"Huh, where's Ru-?" He couldn't finish as he felt a small weight latch onto him from behind. "...How am I stuck as your friggin' mode of transportation? You've even got a _Speed Semblance_."

"Just luck I guess," Ruby told him with a cheerful giggle.

"Luck, eh? Is it that same luck that's the reason why I still haven't gotten my gear back from you?" Ragna demanded, though he still carried a small smile upon his face. Figuring he'd deal with it, he started following the other girls out of the academy. "So tell me what we're going to see."

"Per Blake's insistence, we're heading out to see the newest romantic comedy," Yang told him, only smiling brightly as she noticed Ragna's cringe. "Hitting a little close to home buddy?"

"No… I'm just starting to wish that I'd let Azrael pulverize me after all," Ragna muttered, only to receive a light bop to the head from Weiss. "Kidding, I'm kidding, let's go see a movie."

"Good, because I'm the one who had to go and buy you ticket," she told him. "Promise me you'll at least enjoy yourself this time and it won't be like the last movie was watched."

"...I promise to try not to cringe?" he told her with a guilty smile. She rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile despite herself. "So Blake, is this based off of one of those books you have?"

"I-! …I have no idea what you're talking about," she denied, a harsh blush forming on her face as she realized that Ragna had actually paid attention to the kind of things she was reading. Hearing him give a small chuckle, Blake felt Ragna give her ears a small pet at her embarrassment… and oddly enough didn't protest.

"Well, guess we'd better enjoy the damn vacation while it lasts," he told them all with a smirk. "But next, time I chose the movie."

"That means you'd have to buy all of us tickets," Ruby happily reminded from the Reaper's back.

"Seems like a small price to pay…"

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **PHEW! That there took some work, but at least I finally managed to do this. Anyways, a long interlude chapter with a lot of developments planned for later down the line. I hope you guys enjoyed and leave a comment if you did.**_

 _ **Review Responses from the last two chapters.**_

 _Chapter 14_

 _Dread Alpha Prime_ : New Years, huh? Jeeze.

 _Treyalexander:_ That's a discussion to be had for another day.

 _Draus6:_ Partner… not sure if he considers anyone a partner.

 _Pally111:_ Glad you enjoyed it.

 _K1NG and JOK3R:_ Good so far, but I haven't gotten too far into it.

 _ArmantusCunPinnae_ : Eh, I'll over it.

 _MechaDragon99_ : Not yet, we'll get there.

 _Wlyman2009_ : Eh, she's at least starting to like him a little here.

 _Star'sKeyblade4114_ : Ever Ragna's fate.

 _Lovnag_ : Triple caps for Bang at least.

 _The Unplanner_ : Nice summary, always great to hear from you.

 _RedBuringDragon_ : He might be able, but Ragna's a stubborn bastard if nothing else.

 _Guest (1)_ : Maybe he could use that mop to smack Salem around.

 _Jallan_ : Hah, Kagura wishes he could get that much.

 _Bismark Alexander_ : That's a… tricky situation to bring up at the moment, but he could have it… maybe.

 _Anon_ and _Vanitas 50_ : It's been update just before this one.

 _WideBrimmedHat:_ You again.

 _Fernandonoguera99_ : Sorry that Mai didn't pan out the way you wanted her to, but I'll try to give her some screen time.

 _Chapter 15_

 _Dread Grim Reaper_ : Next season has arrived!

 _Ragriz_ : I'M BACK BABY!

 _The Unplanner_ : Heh, that's going to be an interesting adventure to be sure.

 _Wlyman2009_ : When there's no room left in hell, I shall walk the… whatever this is.

 _Guest_ (1): Soon enough, soon enough.

 _ImmaNumber1_ : Sooner or later for certain.

 _Guest (2)_ : Here's to hoping I keep your interest.

Marmar123: I'll… find a work around, trust me.

 _Siversean24_ : That sounds like a reluctant nickname.

 _Star's Keyblade4114_ : Wait no further, it's here!

 _Paladin9800_ : With Torchwick and Hazama, it's clear who's the top dog (or snake) here.

 _Bismark Alexander_ : Cops in RWBY have always seemed pretty useless, but that's why they have the students getting involved.

Fpinheiro96: I'll have something else out soon, just you wait.

 _Darkhearted86_ : Let's see if I can somehow top it.

 _ **Until the next update. This story is probably one of my favorites to write for at the moment. Take care everyone! Ciao!**_


	17. Another Term

**_Crimson XVII: Another Term_**

The same as any other, the sun was beginning to set on another day in the Kingdom of Vale. With its slow descent, both _Beacon Academy_ and the surrounding city were covered in a dull golden glow. Despite the calm setting, many of the students were anything but calm, rushing off to last minute activities or hoping to plan last minute celebrations as the final day of their of their vacation came to that agonizingly slow close. Come tomorrow morning, students would be in their first class for the next semester and with that the assignment of time eating homework along with sleep depriving projects. Knowing that these precious last hours weren't to be wasted, nearly all of the students that weren't returning from family trips were fighting hard to enjoy the last few minutes and staying as far away from any class rooms as they could… save for one particular student.

Ragna the Bloodedge had never been the social type. Even with the developments of the last semester chipping away at his cold and brooding exterior, he still very much remained the same standoffish and vulgar delinquent as he always was. Standing cross armed at the center of the mock combat room, he didn't move a muscle despite appearing quite on edge. His massive sword-scythe; the _Aramasa_ , rested on the back of his belt where he usually kept it when he wasn't swinging it in the heat of combat. He'd left his most recently acquired sword, _Clarent_ , back in his team's room for the time being… He wasn't going to need it here.

His signature red coat had been recently repaired from a brawl with his teammate and the patchwork he'd performed on the fabric made it seem practically brand new. Despite having new… options to wear, the _Grimm Reaper_ would be lying if he didn't think he still looked his best like this.

The sudden shift in the air around him made the brooding Reaper give a harsh grin as he went for the _Aramasa_. Pulling the weapon off of his belt with enough force to create a harsh gale, his edge of steel collided with another and caused sparks to fly at the contact. A few midair flips and his best friend, Ruby Rose, pulled off a perfect landing with her precious _Crescent Rose_ in hand. Despite having just slashed at Ragna with her scythe, the young girl had the most excited smile on her face and sparkles in her eyes.

 **(Cue _F-Zero: The Legend of Falcon_** _The Meaning of Truth_ **)**

"Solid approach," the _Grimm Reaper_ commended, flipping his sword around in his hand a few times before resetting the blade on his belt. While he appeared to be standing with an unconcerned slouch, in truth this was the posture he always took whenever he was ready for a fight. From here he could either throw out an unarmed strike, guard himself, or just as easily go for his sword. "You ready for this?"

"Always! I'm getting you to bring out that scythe today for sure!" Ruby promised him, twirling her own weapon around a few times as well before resting it in both of her hands in her own combat position.

"If you say so; **GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT!"**

That was all the invitation that Ruby needed; firing a blank shot behind her she used the force of the blast to rush forward before twirling in midair and turning her scythe into a deadly saw blade. Ragna responded in kind by creating a _Barrier_ in front of him to take the storm of scythe swings. Still a bit above Ragna in height, Ruby swung downwards but the attack was easily deflected by Ragna's unarmed uppercut; his fist carrying enough force to avoid being hit by the blade. He then made another upward slash with _Armasa_ and caught Ruby's weapon and interrupted her from firing off another momentum shot, before following up with a downward slash and forcing her to the ground. Ruby managed to keep her footing despite sliding back slightly, but Ragna's quick and powerful roundhouse kick sent her flying back even further. Plunging her scythe point into the ground to halt her slide back, she used that position to fire two quick scy-pod shots.

Ragna charged forward to close the distance on his own accord, quickly taking his blade out to deflect both shots to the side with ease before turning to a rush with a wild haymaker slash. Using her speed semblance at the last second, Ruby managed to avoid the slash and get behind Ragna. Seemingly unable to turn around and counter with his own blade, Ragna slid forward to avoid Ruby's first slash, turned and leaned to the side to avoid her second, and leaned back to barely avoid the third as the point of her scythe nearly caught the underside of his chin. Ruby then went for a low slash to try and catch Ragna's feet, but he stabbed his sword down and managed to catch her blade before swinging upward and forcing both weapons into the air.

With Ragna right in front of her and going for a quick slash, Ruby's only option was to clash weapons and cause more sparks to fly. Ragna raised his leg to catch perform a crushing stomp, but Ruby managed to hold her weapon up and used it handle as an effective guard. Pushing the attack off she tried to go for a quicker pommel strike to Ragna's gut, but the Reaper blocked the attack with ease before slashing his sword which again connected with Ruby's.

Making a quick horizontal slash, Ragna just barely missed Ruby as she blasted herself into the air to avoid the attack. Performing a mighty helm splitter, he again just barely missed as she zoomed just out of his range and landed on the floor. Gathering up her semblance, Ruby then rushed straight as Ragna with spinning through the air, going so fast that she appeared as a small red twister. The _Grimm Reaper_ just barely had time to raise his barrier and guard against the attack as Ruby's continued to push him back along with the violent currents her attack was causing. Ever after she started to lose momentum, Ruby landed to the ground and spun her scythe in a series of circular swings which continued to clash against Ragna's barrier. Leaping up into the air, she delivered a final slash which managed to push her opponent back and gain some distance.

"That's a new one," Ragna commented, almost sounding impressed. Ruby only gave him a confident smile, indicating she was still ready for more. "Alright then, let's see what you really got."

As Ragna took _Aramasa_ off his belt once more, Ruby started a charge to press another offensive, only to pause as Ragna raised his sword into the air and it pulsing with a strange dark energy. Ruby skidded to a stop in her charge forward, watching intently and squealing with excitement as Ragna's weapon extended, it's blade slanted to the side, and another blade formed entirely of dark energy was created; the _Aramasa's_ true form.

Ruby then blitzed forward to try and close distance quickly enough so that Ragna wouldn't be able to hit her with his larger weapon. Unfortunately for her, it was then that she saw that Ragna could wield his scythe as fast as he could his sword. With a quick slash cleaving through her path, Ragna forced Ruby to stop her charge before quickly leaping back. Ragna made another slash, but this one Ruby managed to leap over before firing a blast that shot her towards Ragna. Bringing her scythe down, she figured she'd be able to make direct contact, but Ragna quickly reached with his hand and caught the scythe by its handle. Throwing her behind him, he then followed up with another scythe slash to that sent her flying back into the training room wall.

Using her speed semblance to quickly turn around and land her feet on the wall. Taking off into a powerful sprint while still remaining on the side of the wall, she fired off several rounds of practice shots to overwhelm Ragna from different angles. Keeping his weapon in it's scythe form, Ragna moved the defensive has leaned to avoid on the first few shots before wildly swinging his scythe, managing to make contact with each of the bullets and deflect them away. On one of the shots that the young huntress fired, Ragna managed to hit it at just the right angle where it blasted a hole in the wall right where Ruby had been about to step and knocked her off.

Firing off on regular shot at Ragna, the Reaper leaped high into the air while carrying his large scythe with him. Utilizing what little bit of aura she still could, Ruby activated her speed semblance and went once more into a viciously swinging buzzsaw. Ragna only roared as he swung his own blade around in a hefty swing, creating a brilliant collision as both scythes made contact.

(End theme)

That final clash ended with Ragna completing his final swing while Ruby lost her grip on her weapon as it spiraled out of reach and impaled itself in the classroom wall. Giving her a chance to recover, Ragna allowed the _Aramasa_ to revert to its sword form before placing it back on his belt. Ruby quickly got to her feet and rush at Ragna with her semblance. The _Reaper_ raised his arm and blocked a semblance fueled punch… only to stare at Ruby once it had connected.

"Uh… is that it…?" he asked, looking down in surprise at his sparring partner. Blinking a couple of times, Ruby reeled back her fist before throwing a follow up punch. Ragna didn't block this one and he barely felt it as Ruby made contact. Realizing she was losing her edge, Ruby unleashed a flurry of punches (honestly she was just flailing about) as she tried to get a mark on Ragna. The Reaper only shook his head before giving her one well placed poke to the forehead strong enough to send Ruby stumbling back before she landed square on her bottom. "...B Minus."

"Hey! That wasn't an official fight! We were just doing this for fun!" she told him with a pout on the floor.

"We both know damn well that you were giving it your all out there," he told her as he looked down at his friend, eventually giving a teasing smirk. "Including whatever that was after you dropped your scythe. I wanna say… dancing?"

"Oh, that's it!" Ruby said as she finally leaped to her feet. "I'll show you!"

Using her speed semblance, she rushed forward for another attack on Ragna. Knowing she couldn't do anything to hurt him, Ragna just shook his head and gave a wistful smile as she ran into him… before realizing she _hadn't_ been aiming to hurt him.

"Ru-Ruby! C-cut that out!" Ragna shouted as Ruby clung to him, viciously tickling his sides and even using her speed semblance to increase the effect. Strong as Ragna was, he couldn't help it if he was ticklish and he couldn't help laughing as she clung to him. Trying to force her off him proved to be his undoing as he lost his balance and fell, landing flat on his back.

"One all," Ruby announced gleefully, resting her chin on Ragna's chest as she smiled brightly at him.

"Tch, you wish," the grumpy Reaper continued to deny from a rather compromising position. "There's no way I'm counting that."

"Excuse us?" a voice sounded, making it quite clear to the two that they weren't alone here. Ruby quickly got off of Ragna as the Reaper tried to adjust his clothing, both giving harsh blushes. "Sorry, were we interrupting something?"

"No, nothing at all," Ragna said trying to save face as he got to his feet.

 _'Well… it's not nothing,'_ Ruby admitted internally before looking at the three that had just arrived. "Oh! Are you all new here?"

"Guess we would stand out. We're here for our first semester at _Beacon_ ," the only boy of the group said. He had greyish hair that was style to his right, and a black and grey zip up jacket. "You can call me Mercury. The girls beside me are-"

"Emerald," the girl to his side said, obviously just to interrupt Mercury so he wouldn't have the satisfaction. Her hair was a light mint green styled into bangs and her outfit was a strange exotic mix of clothes with brown covering white pants and wrappings to cover her top half… Ragna had a suspicion a _certain_ student would be interested in her get up… while another would be interested in the lack thereof.

"And I'm Cinder," the lead girl and the one that had called them out chimed in. At the moment, she was the only one currently wearing the official _Beacon_ uniform. She had ashen grey hair that was styled to her left and cover most of the eye on that side. The eye they both could see though seemed to be focused on Ragna in an almost intense stare, seeming to ignore Ruby completely.

"So, something you needed?" Ragna asked, feeling just the slightest bit uncomfortable under the gaze. That and something about Cinder herself was… off. It wasn't even something that he could physically see about her; it was more like there was a feeling that would cause his hair to rise if it wasn't already so naturally spiky.

"Don't be rude, we still need to introduce ourselves! Good first impressions!" Ragna decided not to comment that they'd already made _quite_ the first impression. "I'm Ruby Rose! First year here at Beacon!" The Reaper had hoped that she would save him the trouble of introductions, but the look his young friend was sending his way made it clear he wouldn't be getting out of it that easily.

"...Ragna, also a first year," he eventually relented, noticing that Cinder hadn't looked away from him (he wasn't even sure if she'd blinked yet). "Again, something you needed?"

"We just needed some directions to the dormitories," she explained, breaking eye contact before turning her attention to Ruby and putting a smile on her face. If Ragna didn't know any better, he'd have to assume this was a forced effort for some reason. "It's a big place and it's a little hard to find our way around."

"Oh, then you just need to head a couple of halls down to the right, you can't miss it," she instructed. "Hope we see more of you this term!"

"I'm certain we'll be seeing a lot of each other," Cinder said in a friendly manner as they left… though Ragna couldn't help but notice the final 'look' she sent him as her team exited the training room.

"That damn way she kept looking at me…" he began with a low tone, still unnerved by the woman he'd just encountered.

"...You think she likes you?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to the side. Ragna gave his best friend an odd look, knowing full well how wrong that seemed. "What?"

Outside in the still empty halls, the three had… different thoughts about the meeting.

"So that guy with the whole _deathly brooding_ complex is the one you've got a vexing interest in?" Mercury commented stepping side by side with Cinder with his hands resting behind his head in a very relaxed manner. "Gotta admit, I'm just not seeing it."

"That's not surprising," Emerald harshly commented.

"What? Did you try to get a good eyefull yourself? And here I thought I was your type." Thanks to his good reflexes, he managed to avoid Emerald's slap to his face.

"That's enough you too," Cinder told them both, her commanding voice containing both authority and a deadly threat. Both of her followers complied as they continued to find the dormitories. "We all have to behave while we're here, after all…"

 _'So… the only person who's taken up so much of Hazama's thoughts and the girl that's already gotten in my side already know each other. What's more, they seem very close…'_ Cinder nearly gave a sadistic giggle. _'This is almost making it too easy.'_

 ** _GRIMM REAPER'S OF REMNANT_**

 _Volume II -Second Guessing-_

 _"For the rest of the school year, the haunting echoes of their screams could be heard no matter where you went. There wasn't a drop of coffee to be found throughout Beacon and even Vale city was faced with the crisis of a shortage that lasted for months. The heavy air of exhaustion was suffocating, some people fell into a deep sleep afterwards and never woke up. Some people lost their nerves so badly… that their entire head went **BALD.** "_

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yang screamed in sheer terror, clutching both Weiss and Blake as close as she could. While all the noble could do was grit her teeth as she was held hard enough for her ribs to start to crack, Blake meanwhile had to fight for her life so that Yang wouldn't unintentionally strangle her. With the flashlight illuminating her face from below, Nora gave her best maniacal laugh before continuing the story.

 _"All of this was meer childsplay to the true terror that awaited them all. Both torturously slow and all too quickly, the papers' due dates came upon them. Shaking from the mix of pure fright, sheer exhaustion, and sickly over caffeination, the students brought the fruits of their labor forward; offering them up like pegan sacrifices. The teachers emotionless and rigid as a stone cliff side. But with the documents in their hands, their eyes gleamed viciously…"_ Nora then made a wild swing with her flashlight, laughing crazily like a Yandere gone too far (obvious foreshadowing is obvious). _"AND THEN THERE WAS THE DESTRUCTIVE FLASH OF RED! THE DREADED CORRECTIONS PEN! MISSPELLING! IMPROPER GRAMMAR! IMPROPERLY SOURCED REFERENCES! SPACES THAT WERE A MILLIMETER TOO LONG! ALL OF THEIR HARD WORK REWARDED WITH A D MINUS!"_

Nora basked in her storytelling glory as the screams cut through the air… only to realize that it was only _one_ scream… and it wasn't coming from any of the girls.

"Don't mind me, I'll be out in a second," Lei Ren assured as he took the screaming teapot off the burner and began pouring the tea. "Anyone care for a cup? Fresh from Haven."

"REN! You totally blew my story!" Nora shouted at her partner. "I had this whole thing ready to have all three of them afraid for their lives and you went in blew it!"

"I think the only reason you got a scream at all was because you hit Yang's weak point," he judged, looking as the blonde was still pulling her beloved hair close to her.

"Jesus… We're gone a half hour tops, we come back to a dark room, and Yang and Nora are screaming their heads off," came Ragna's voice as the light's in the lobby were finally flipped back on.

"Sounds about right, literally," Ruby tried to tell him with a smile. Ragna was not amused.

"You guys weren't gone for very long," Blake noted from were she sat, having finally caught her breath. "How did your sparring go?"

"Managed to tie!" Ruby said, giving a peace sign of victory.

"She wishes," the Reaper cut in, thrusting her hand down.

"Well I managed to see you go _Scythe Mode_! That's victory enough for me!" the weapons enthusiast decided proudly.

"Ruby, the Festival Tournament isn't too far away and if you keep an attitude like that you won't get past the first elimination round!" Weiss cut in, scolding her partner as usual.

"That's funny; and here I thought your pride as a Schnee wouldn't let you do anything less than take on the entire tournament all on your lonesome with a hand tied behind your back for good measure," Ragna taunted before smirking. "Or is that just your own personal stubbornness?"

"St-Stubborn!? Who are you calling stubborn!?" she demanded, getting to her feet so she could lean forward with her hands on her hips and glare up at Ragna.

"Looks like everyone's getting along as well as when we left you," came another familiar voice from down the hall; it's source was a redhead decorated in golden armor.

"Pyrrha! You're back!" Nora exclaimed rushing forward to greet her friend and teammate. "Soooo give me the details! What was Jaune's family like?! Do they have a big house?! Did you already get his parent's blessing?! When's the-?!"

"Nora, don't overwhelm her…" Ren sighed at his partner's behavior before looking at Ragna. "Tea?"

"Why not?" the Reaper said with a solid shrug as Ren began pouring him a cup. "Where the heck is Jaune anyways?"

"...I'm not here," came the voice of Jaune Arc. By how dead his voice sounded it was quite clear that there was something wrong with the poor boy.

"There going to have to see you eventually Jaune, you might as well get this over with now," Pyrhha gently tried to coax. Eventually her team leader stepped out of the shadows and she was forced to shoot a powerful glare at Nora as she erupted into laughter.

"What on earth are you wearing!?" Nora demanded as she fell on top of the couch, clutching her sides with pangs of laughter. Her leader was dressed in a canadian tuxedo; a deep blue denim jacket, faded blue jeans, and a sky blue v-neck t-shirt. His only saving grace with a grey metal chain necklace with a kite shield with a laurel wreath wrapping around the sides as its centerpiece. Such an accessory was fitting if somewhat bold fashion statement… but it did little to keep his teammate from laughing.

"It… It's something that… my mother picked out for me." In hindsight, that could've been about the worst thing he could say. Now Ruby and Yang were joining in the laughing, Blake could only avert her eyes in the shame she saw in him, and Ren only wordlessly facepalmed.

"It's not as bad as you all think," Phyrra tried to tell them. "His sisters are merciless; they didn't give him a choice in the matter…"

 **(Author's Note: For those that want more details about this check out Chapter 3 of my side story _Grimm Reaper's Extensions_ )**

"...That right?" Ragna commented, having remained silent while everyone else had reacted to Jaune's outfit. Walking over to the ashamed blond, he reached his arm out and but a hand upon his denim covered shoulder. Surprised, Jaune looked up and saw the Reaper's face in a much different light; one of understanding and comradery. "I hear you… brother."

"...BROTHER!" Jaune seemed to say out of nowhere, rushing forward as Ragna moved his hand from his friend's shoulder from his face to avoid whatever clinging he was in for. NOW Phyrra was facepalming.

"That's funny…" Yang said with a smile that made it clear she was about to tell one of her famous wisecracks. "A lanky blond kid, dressed in blue, and has a name that starts with a J is trying to glomp Ragna while shouting Brother… and Jin's nowhere in sight."

"Is that so, woman?"

An icy chill seemed to pass through Yang as she trembled at the words before turning to the lobby's main entrance and saw the Kisaragi heir wheeling in a small suitcase behind him. Ragna gave Jaune one final push off which seemed to do the trick, before turning his attention to his younger sibling.

"You made it back," he noted obviously.

"You seem disappointed," Jin commented. His face had both a scowl and something of a cocky smirk.

"Not really," Ragna shot back with his own sharp grin. This wasn't much between them, but for everything that _wasn't_ happening, it was certainly progress. "How was your break?"

"I suppose I have no complaints," his sibling decided.

"Didn't you spend it with Kurgura?" Ruby reminded.

"I'm surprised too."

"If you two went together then where is he?" Weiss demanded. Jin then set his eyes upon his classmate, some previous words regarding her weighing heavy on his mind, though Weiss herself didn't seem any different.

"He's… out doing exactly what you'd expect," Jin said with a soft sigh.

 _Meanwhile_

"Aw, I'm glad you both decided to drop the cold shoulder," Kagura said, each of his arms around a lovely young lady. "Sorry that I had to leave you both by your lonesomes."

"You'd better be sorry; I hate to have to show you the business side of these heels," Melanie Malachite threatened as she sat on Kagura's right, her bladed footwear sitting so close that most people would feel threatened… this womanizer knew how to keep his cool however. "The entire week you were gone Miltia kept pining after you and saying how there weren't any cool enough guys without you."

"That so?" Kagura asked, directing his charmers smile to the red dressed beauty on his left rested her head on his shoulder. Even with the obnoxiously loud dance music blasting around them, the ladykiller was skilled enough with his volume and the words he whispered into the claw user's ear was enough to flush her face crimson.

"Whatever," she said trying to hide her real reaction, but to no avail as the confidence in Kagura's grin grew even further.

A ways away from their little corner of the club, its owner watched them with a less than pleased look on his face.

 _'How are they supposed to get their work in as bouncers if they're gonna keep cozying up to that idiot?'_ Hei Xiong (better known around as ' _Junior_ ') internally growled as he watched them. Kagura would always come in with some idiotic play to get the girls, but the really infuriating part was that it always seemed to work. _'...Guess I should just be happy he's willing to dump all of that cash of his into this place; just about paid off all of the repairs for blondie's damages.'_

 _Back to Beacon_

"That idiot… though I can't say I'm at all shocked," Ragna muttered as he realized what Kagura was doing. "And _Goodwitch_ always thinks I'm the poor bastard that needs to be put on mop duty." Ragna glared at his brother. "You know the kind of hell he's going to give your team if he gets caught in a dive like that, right?"

"Like you have any room to talk with our-"

"Ix-Nay, YANG," Ragna told her with a harsh scowl, wanting to keep the secret between as few people as possible. The blonde only gave Ragna a smile that reminded him that she'd never manage to keep a secret.

"In what little I'm willing to offer in defense of Kagura, it's a long flight from the Kisaragi estate and we'll all need to be well rested for the coming events," Jin informed.

"Well rested? Doesn't that seem kinda paranoid?" Ragna asked as he scanned the room. No one seemed all that confident of the coming term… quite a few of them actually looked pretty nervous. Even Ren seemed a little less stoic than usual, the tea mug he offered to Ragna shaking ever so slightly. "Okay… not the response I was expecting."

"Ragna, you know what we're in for," Jaune tried to reason with the fellow lead. "Come on, even you can't tell me that your confident even after hearing the stories from some of the second year students."

"And second hand tellings with a spine chilling twist from yours truly!" Nora chimed in proudly.

"Nora's zany way of telling things aside, what the hell kind of stories are they telling in the first place?" the Reaper demanded.

"Only what people are calling the _Project Hell_ ," Blake told him, actually starting to give him answers to what he was in for. "Ragna did you really not hear talking about this from other students?"

"I mean… they might've been saying something about it," he admitted. "Problem was I probably wasn't listening."

"Honestly…" Blake sighed.

"Hey, it's not my fault I don't have cute cat ears like you," Ragna retorted as looked to the top of Blake's head… almost… longingly.

"...No, you're not allowed to pet them," she denied with a sharp scowl. Ragna actually looked a little disappointed. "Getting you back on task, this upcoming term there's going to be no homework, no attendance records, and only _weekly_ lectures. All of our time is going to be dedicated to projects."

"That… sounds like hell I guess?" Ragna said, still not seeing the point. "If that's all we're doing, how many projects are we supposed to be doing?"

 _"Four projects, each more heinous than the last! One for each bloodcurdling class designed to strip away any sign of hope left in those foolish eyes of yours! Oh you sweet summer child! How foolish you are to show any signs of confidence, when at the end you'll be broken and pleading for it all to end!"_

"Nora's… _Noraness_ aside, there's only one project to do for every class. The problem is that you're going to be expected to work the entire term on it, so it needs to be good," Pyrhha explained.

"...Still not impressed," Ragna admitted as he sipped his tea. "Long as you don't spend the whole semester pissing your time away, you should be fine right?"

"It's not that easy; not with the way project teams are going to be split," Jaune explained, remembering the information Pyrhha had been briefing him on during their flight here. "So your first project's going to be a team project, meaning that you're supposed to coordinate with your entire team."

"Meaning that not all of them are handled that way," Ragna realized. "Then what?"

"Then you have your standard partner project," Weiss explained. "Depending on how badly Tsubaki and Celica are going to be trapped by bad weather, the both of you are already starting off with a heavy disadvantage."

"I'm well aware; it's my brother that you need to worry about," Jin assured her, leaving his elder to growl at the insult. "You'll have to manage your time well and work hard for the solo project; even if you only have yourself to rely on, our instructors are said to judge just as harshly as the other two projects."

"So a bunch of crap is on me, big deal," Ragna tried to downplay. "Wait a minute… Group, partner, and solo. I thought you said we'd have four projects."

"And… that's what supposedly makes this _Project Hell_ ," Blake told him darkly. "If you were forced to do everything else it could have been manageable… but then you have the final Random Project."

"You and one other person," Ren clarified. "It's going to be on that person to make or break your semester. Everyone else you might've found a way to coordinate with, but the random partner is going to have their own schedule to attend to and there's the chance that they'll be a type that particularly hard for you to work with."

"There's only two things that are certain for your random partner," Yang interjected. "Your random partner can't be anyone from your team… and no take backs; you're stuck with them for the entire term." She then shot Ragna a smirk. "Might not be all bad for you; you might even get to team up with a total hottie."

"Is that a flame pun?" Ragna asked with annoyance.

"I just said hottie, never said anything about it being me," she told him as her flirty smile only seemed to grow. "But I was the first one you thought about when I said that? Nice that you're being so forward for once!"

"Wha-!? I didn't-!? ...You know what? Forget it," he growled before taking a long sip from his cup as everyone around him chuckled at his expense.

"Point Yang," Ruby commented with a smug grin at Ragna.

"Something tells me I don't think I want to know the overall score," Jin commented, earning a slight glare from his brother. He then turned serious again. "Normally, that alone would be enough to earn the moniker of _Project Hell_ , but this year they seem to be taking it a full step forward."

"...They are?" Somehow, even the horror story spreading Nora didn' know of the extra challenge Jin was talking about.

"On these projects, Ozpin's been known to bring in an expert from outside of the academy every year to oversee and grade one of them. They usually tend to offer the harshest criticism and they're known to assign readings that are far beyond our year's normal curriculum," he advised. "Last year the professor was assigned to the partner project and managed to cause a lot of tension between the teams, but now we're even worse off… they're supposed to be judging the Random Projects."

"Putting even more pressure there," Ren realized. "Do you know who the outside expert's supposed to be this year?"

"Not a clue, but I'm sure we'll be finding out at the assembly tomorrow when the random teams are announced," he admitted. "And if that wasn't enough…"

"There's more?" Ragna groaned as he realized just how serious this is getting.

"Think about what she said earlier," Jin instructed as he gestured to Blake. "What's the one thing they're not stopping during the group projects?"

"No homework, no attendance grades, weekly lectures…" the Reaper began listing off before it dawned on him. "The mock battles."

"More than that, _The Vytal Festival_ is next term," Pyrahh realized.

"And Vale's hosting this year," Weiss realized. "Meaning on top of _Project Hell_ , we also need to give our all in the combat classes if we want any chance of getting in."

"...I'm so dead," Jaune muttered as he slumped his head forward, knowing how much work his combat skills still needed, and that was for regular classes sparring.

"...Oh Ragnaaaaaaa," Nora said with a mix of sweet and sadism, causing Jaune to tremble as he looked to the fellow team lead. "I think Jaune could use another… _crash course._ "

"M-Maybe you don't have to go that far…" he tried to tell the Reaper, as Ragna seemed to be thinking it over. "I… I mean I just got back, didn't I?"

"You did, but…" Ragna began before sighing. "If we can manage to bulk you up a little, there's a chance you'll be able to outgrow those damn clothes that you got sent back with." This attempt at motivation was something that he'd learned from his teacher; if you wanted to convince someone to put the effort in to get through a hellish training regimen, you needed to convince them that there was a harsher hell they'd be escaping.

"...DO IT."

It had a solid record of success.

 _Meanwhile -Upper Floors-_

While he didn't come off as nearly standoffish as some of the other students at the academy, Azrael could still see the value of some private time. Laying on the upper balconies while the wall behind him kept him sitting upright was one of his usual relaxing places and one of his favorites. There was a soft breeze tonight which felt cool against his skin and the twilight hour was sending the last of the sun's rays over the horizon. It wasn't too unusual if he'd fall asleep while he was up here (he'd only fallen off once and they were still trying to get his body's massive indent out of the ground below), but as he heard footsteps approaching he knew that plan wouldn't be upheld. There were only a few people at the academy that would even think of approaching him, and the one he saw was certainly the hardest of them to read.

"Mind if I join you?" Amane Nishiki asked in his signature flowery tone as he walked onto the balcony.

"Even if I said no, you're not the type that can take a hint," Azrael grumbled.

"More like I'm selective in what stage cues I acknowledge," the dancer to him as he leaned against the balcony himself. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"Felt like a nap, but it looks like you won't let me have that," he bluntly explained. "What about you? You're so social that you can actually make someone uncomfortable."

"Only because most of our cast has yet to get over their stage fright," Amane told him, using his usual wordplay. "As for now, I'm on my own little break. I can't expect so many performers to keep their forms after so many performances, especially with such a tricky routine on the horizon."

"Guess I should have known it would be that simple," Azrael decided as he turned his gaze back to the horizon. "I hear we're having some students from the other kingdoms arriving early for the _Festival_."

"You've heard correctly, but with the stormy weather as harsh as it's been, it might take some time for all of them to arrive. Much to everyone's disappointment." A gentle smile formed on Amane's lips. "I can tell how hard it will be to hold yourself back from charging full force against them when they arrive.

"Actually, it'll be easier than that," the _Mad Dog_ admitted with a toothy grin. "If I don't get to fight them now, I'll be in for a fresh fight when the _Festival_ finally rolls around."

"So that's your game; you're hoping that the _Festival_ is going to be your biggest hunt of them all." Amane got all of the confirmation he needed from Azrael's confident laugh. "It's good that you have something to look forward to, but I'd take a small sliver of caution… you don't want to end up scarred again, do you?"

 _'He can see this?'_ Azrael thought to himself as he glanced down to his chest. While the wound he'd been inflicted by Ragna had been a sizable one, Azrael's aura along with his own impressive metabolism had healed it quickly and effectively. Now it should have been impossible for the naked eye to see, but something about Amane made it seem that he had better eyes than that.

"That look you're giving me…" the dancer began, a strange shine starting to sparkle in his eyes. "Would you prefer to have a personal dance with yours truly?"

"...Pass, for now," Azrael eventual decided. "You're so delicate that I'd snap you like a twig."

"Snap? Oh no, I'm afraid I'd be far too flexible and limber to let something like that to happen," Amane brushed off. "Perhaps some other time then?"

"Maybe at the _Festival_ ," as a hungry smirk alit his face. _'This is going to get interesting…'_

 _The Next Day_

"Still a lot of people trying to make it back from their breaks," Ragna noted as he stood in the Assembly Hall with his brother the next morning. It was bright and early at the academy even if there technically wasn't a lot on today's agenda. While the main purpose of this assembly was for _Project Hell_ initiations, all of the teams from the higher years were there as well (Ragna had given a passing nod to Team _CFVY_ ). "Any word from Tsubaki or Celica?"

"Earlier this morning," his brother informed. "The storm's set to subside some time tomorrow and from there it's still a full day's travel for them. Meaning they'll have only missed a single day of project work."

"That's not too bad, but they're still going to miss the weekly lecture tomorrow," Ragna grumbled. "Can't believe they're not willing to just push it off for another day until everyone gets here."

"It's probably their way of testing us, making sure we'd be able to pull for the rest of our team when they're unavailable," Jin guessed. "This whole process is starting to sound like one long series of tests."

"Fun…" The Reaper's sarcastic growl did well enough to tell what kind of mood he was currently in.

"Happy start of Term!" came Ruby's greeting cheery as always. This made it just _a bit_ harder for Ragna to stay as sour as he was currently feeling.

"Wouldn't exactly go with happy… but good morning," Ragna told her with a softer smile.

"You're actually wearing your uniform for the first day," Blake noted, seeing Ragna dressed in the standard _Beacon Academy_ uniform. "I thought you hated wearing it."

"I do, just figured I might as well have it on for the first day," he told her while scratching the back of his head, an easy tell that he was hiding something.

"More like you just didn't want _Goodwitch_ nagging your ear off for not being dressed right," Yang countered with her knowing smile, something that she'd often have around Ragna.

"You're not wrong," the Reaper admitted. "At least I've got the damn thing on right."

"I wouldn't go that far," Weiss told him. Before Ragna could protest, Weiss was already all over his clothes. Tightening his tie, adjusting his shoulders, flattening his shirt. The Reaper didn't have a second to protest as Weiss made sure his appearance was up to form. "There… that's much better."

"Really?" he had to growl. The sudden display was even enough to get a small dignified chuckle out of Jin.

"You're fault for caving in so easily," came Azrael's voice as he joined the group along with Amane and Kagura. Out of the three of them, only Kagura was dressed in the school's uniform.

"You know…" the Black Gale began with a charming smile. "My tie's feeling actually feeling a little loose. Weiss, do you mind-?"

"Fix it yourself; you have hands," she told him, not even bothering to face him.

"Chilly as a winter's night," Amane commented with a smile as Kagura glared in jealousy at Ragna's snarky smirk.

"No, that'd be my sister," Weiss informed. Before anyone could question her words, it was then that team _JNPR_ burst onto the scene.

"Are we late?" Jaune asked, sounding a little out of breath after running the entire way here.

"Nah, Ozpin hasn't made his appearance yet," Ragna informed. "How come you had to take so long though?"

"Apparently he was so exhausted with yesterday's training that he slept through today's alarm," Pryhha explained.

"And most of the follow up tries had no effect," Ren added.

"What on earth did you do to him last night?" Nora demanded.

"Just the usual; and you're the one that said I should train him so I don't want to hear it," Ragna told her, leading Nora to stick her tongue out at him. "That's classy."

"Ozpin's on the stage now; I think they're about to start," Jin informed as the Assembly Hall grew quiet. To Oz's left stood _Goodwitch_ while to his right stood Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck.

"No sign of the guest Teacher yet," Yang whispered.

"Maybe he got caught in the weather delays?" Ruby guessed.

"Thank you all for joining us," Ozpin said as he spoke into the microphone. "With any luck we'll be able to finish relatively early here and you'll be able to enjoy the rest of your day before classes begin in full tomorrow. I understand that many of you do not have your full teams at the moment, but we'll have to do our best to take this unfortunate occurrence in stride… fitting the core of Huntsman and Huntress planning."

 _'Starting to sound like he planned it this way, storms included'_ Ragna realized.

"Onto other news; as you all know next season Vale will be hosting the acclaimed _Vytal Festival_. In accordance with the upcoming event, each and every mock battle you'll be participating in will carry a certain _new weight_ to it. If you want any chance of being selected to represent Vale in the coming tournament, you'll have to go above and beyond anything that you could have managed last term… that goes for everyone."

Ozpin looked over the notes on his desk before he began reading.

"That said, we do seem to have a powerful lineup of potential contestants this year. While most of our higher years are impressive enough in their own right; our first years from last season actually managed one of the highest written exam averages on record… and some of the top scorers for the combat exams carried marks that were nearly unheard of. One student in particular during the _Grimm Hunting_ managed a record that was more than fifty over the former highest."

Ragna felt Yang gave him a solid punch to the shoulder before seeing her proud smile, remembering when they took that final exam together. He again scratched the back of his head, this time in mild embarrassment.

"That being said I don't want any of you to expect this quarter to be an easy one; the name _Project Hell_ was aptly earned," Ozpin told them, using the name most figured only students used. "This may very well be the greatest challenge of your first year as students, so I expect you all to rise to this occasion." Ozpin then guestered to the teachers on each side. "Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck as expected will be handling projects around _Grimm Studies_ and _Historical Studies_. Those will be your _Team_ and _Partner_ projects respectively. Professor _Goodwitch_ will continue to oversee the mock battles as well as the _Solo_ project which relates to _Information Gathering_. Lastly though he's absent now, the _Random_ project will fall under the guidance of-"

 ** _THOOOM!_**

A loud crash echoed around the _Assembly_ hall from the very back. Students all whipped their heads around to see the entrance doors had been flung open with great force. Standing at the entrance was a lone man, wearing a purple shirt and cape, white pants, leather shoes… and a golden mask covering his face.

"No damn way…" one of the students could barely say.

"THAT'S our _Random Project_ instructor!?" another demanded.

"...I think the first years are just plain dead," a third year comment with abundant pity.

"Uh… Ragna?" Jaune whispered to the Reaper. "Who is that?"

"That's... Relius Clover," Ragna said in a low voice as the man walked forward through the center of the crowd. Everyone wordlessly made way for him to pass and made sure he had ample room. "I didn't do that much reading when I was on the road with my master… but this guy wrote every book I looked at."

"He's well known then?" Jaune asked, still not understanding the key details.

"That's putting it lightly," Kagura noted, even his confidence seemed to be waning. "They call him the _Soul Seer_ ; his theories and discoveries have completely changed the field on how we understand semblances and auras. He managed to do that much in just five years."

"O.. Oh.." Jaune noted.

"There's also a rumor about him," Jin said, keeping his eyes focused as Relius made his way up the stage and shook hands with Ozpin. "They say he can tell the exact details of a person's semblance just by looking at them… even if they don't even know it themselves."

 _'He can see semblances?'_ Jaune considered as he was starting to understand the teacher's power. _'That… that might be just what I need!'_

"You're late," _Goodwitch_ scolded from atop the stage.

"Fashionably," Relius said simply, brushing her words off without missing a beat.

"More like dramatically," Oobleck whispered to Port, who nodded in agreement.

"As I was saying, the _Random_ project will be handled by Doctor, Huntsman, and valedictorian of this very academy Relius Clover," Ozpin said, letting the weight of the teacher's accomplishments fall on the student's shoulder. "His subject will revolve around the study, philosophy, and practical uses of Auras and Semblances."

"Do your best not to disappoint," Relius told the rest of the room uncaringly. "When you return to your dormitories after the address, your partners will be listed on the front board. As you know, all assignments are final."

The address then continued with Ozpin discussing many of the important points regarding the following school year… though none of the students were able to tear their focus now that one of the greatest scientific minds of the millennium was in their very own academy.

 _Later -The Dorms-_

"...You think that confirms it?" Kagura asked Jin as the both of them stood side-by-side, looking at their partner assignments. While Kagura had been assigned a name he hadn't heard of before (Neptune or something), Jin's partner had left him still… uncomfortably still. "I know there's a chance this was actually random, but the timing of all of this…"

"...You told me so," he finally admitted, though to say those words mixed with everything else was killing him.

"Don't worry; I won't be gloating," Kagura told him seriously, before looking towards Team _RWBY_. "She's right over there, I say we let her in on what's going on."

"Agreed, I'll meet you in the room in a minute." Nodding, Kagura headed to Team _JACK's_ room, while Jin approached the four. "Weiss."

"Jin. ...Seems we've been assigned partners," she said to him, doing her best to act indifferent.

"Seems so, but could I have a word?" Jin asked, the edge in his tone making it seem serious. Weiss didn't say anything, though her team gave each other a collective strange look. "This won't take long."

"...Lead on," she eventually decided with a sigh. Nodding, Jin quickly hurried with her to his team's room. Weiss raised an eyebrow of why they needed to be so out of sight, but it became slowly annoyed when she saw Kagura in the room. "What's this really about?"

"I'll be blunt, Schnee."

"Whoa, whoa…" Kagura said, putting his hands up. "You're going a little aggressive there Jinny; why don't you let me handle this part?"

"Don't call me that," the blond growled, but stepped aside. Weiss gave him an odd look, but Jin only nodded to let her know that Kagura was to be trusted… not sure if she could trust _that_ though.

"Listen, this is going to seem a little strange, but have you talked to your father recently?"

"Excuse you?" Weiss demanded, feeling that this was becoming a breach of her privacy.

"Answer him; this is more important than you realize," Jin ordered.

"Jin. Seriously. Calm down." Kagura tried to put some weight into his words. "I'm sorry, but we really need to know."

"I… I haven't talked to him per say," she admitted, though it was clear she was uncomfortable bringing up her family's relationship. "He… he's been sending me messages." Kagura nodded in understanding. "Recently though, he's been sending more messages than ever before. In some cases more than three in a week."

"And have you read any of those messages?" Again, Weiss thought this questioning was borderline interrogation, but reluctantly shook her head. "Why not?"

"I had finals to focus on, and his messages were never something I really looked forward to that much," she admitted.

"I understand and I don't blame you, but I need you to do a quick search on these messages," Kagura told her. She shot another look at him. "You don't have to show any of them, but I need you to search if there's any mention of Jin."

"Why on earth do I need to…" she began, before shaking her head. Taking her scroll out, she did a few simple presses before typing his name out. "Zero results."

"...Huh," Kagura admitted as he paced around the room. "That's… not what I was expecting."

"That's because you chose the wrong key word; it wouldn't be on a first name basis," Jin lectured before turning back to Weiss. "Search the phrase 'Kisaragi Heir', that's the one we really need." Rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it all, Weiss moodily typed in Jin's request… and went still as stone. Her eyes dart across the messages back and forth at a worrying speed before her scroll fell to the floor with a hollow clatter. "There's no doubt to be had now."

"Jin, give her a minute," Kagura told him as Weiss's eyes were glued to the floor, her irises shaking in terror. "I know it's a lot to process, but-"

"But what!?" Weiss demanded as her entire body began to shake. "That father's using me to-!"

"That's why I brought you here; to make sure that doesn't happen," Jin said, the force behind his words stronger than ever. "I'll be blunt; you can't stand me and I have even less of an interest in you." Weiss didn't comment. "Were it possible, I would have found some way to change our assignment."

"How did we even get paired together like this in the first place?" Weiss could only wonder, before a thought dawned on her. "Do… do you think that my father could have bribed Relius Clover?"

"I wouldn't put it past him, but I'm not sure that Relius is the type to take bribes," Kagura considered. "That and… we didn't even know he was the instructor until this morning."

"Even a scientist needs money to fuel their research and someone like her father could have easily found out through the right circles," Jin denied, ever the realist. "It doesn't matter _how_ it happened, this whole thing is already set in stone. What matters is how we approach this from here."

"...And what do you have so far?" she demanded them both. "What do you have planned to get us out of this?"

"I think we should talk to Tsubaki." Jin glared at Kagura for his suggestion. "Not in that way, just that we should ask for her help. She comes from a noble house the same as us; if anything she might be able to find something that we're missing."

"...Fine, see if you can get in touch with her now," he ordered. Kagura nodded as he left the room.

"And… me?" Weiss asked, so far having next to no idea on how to handle the situation.

"Unless you feel like you can confront your father outright, I suggest you stay where you're needed most," Jin told her as he held the door open for Weiss to leave.

"Right, I'll…" Weiss said as she made her way to the hallway, just outside the door frame. "What do you mean? Where do you think I'm needed most?"

"You should easily know that much," Jin told her as he slowly began closing the door. "After all, he can't even put a suit on right without you."

"Uh, I- You-! How-!?"

Weiss rambling went unaddressed as Jin finished closing the door. Getting over the sudden shock while collecting her thoughts, she stormed away from her team room, keeping her head down so no one could see her blushing face.

 _Meanwhile -Ozpin's Office-_

"Sorry to call you back after your last trip into Vale was so recent," Ozpin told Relius as he placed a cup of freshly brewed coffee on his desk in front of the scientist. "Our last fill-in had to cancel at the last moment due to certain… constraints."

"You mean her prison cell?" Relius retorted, not mincing words at all. "It might be on a need to know basis, but you should know that I qualify for that list." He took the cup in hand, but did not begin drinking just yet. "To think that Jasmin's work pushed her so far…"

"Far enough to feed stray Faunus and infestation refugees to the _Grimm_ she'd captured…" Ozpin said bitterly, remembering the report. "It was… lucky that Branwell found her operation when he did."

"Wrong words to use, given their past together," Relius said simply as he took a sip from his cup as his tone seemed to change. "Back onto lighter news, how many did we have this year?"

"Five attempts. Two successes."

"That many this year?" Relius asked as a smile formed on his lips. "And the students that failed?"

"Given a random punishment chore, courtesy of _Goodwitch_ ," Ozpin informed. "Many more students were willing to try to hack that branch of our mainframe this year, but with all of the pressure we've been applying it's not hard to see why they tried to change their partners."

"It's only the first step though," Relius reminded. "This shows initiative, not ability. The Project results will decide if their risky decision was the right one."

"That said, there was something out of the ordinary this year," Ozpin began, as he looked towards the door. "The two changes used strings of virus code far more advanced than anything even our most tech savvy students should be able to pull off." He turned back to Relius. "Dare say… it even rivals the program you used."

"Technology was different back then, but I agree that it is odd," he admitted. "Do you know what assignments they changed?"

"I don't since I never kept a physical copy. I never thought a program could eliminate traces so easily and my oversight kept us from being able to recall the data… That makes this a touch worrisome," Ozpin admitted.

"In any case, it's not our business to interfere," Relius decided. "Their fate is now their own, whether that results in success or failure."

 _Rooftops_

"You've been here all of this time?" Cinder asked as she walked onto the rooftops. It hadn't been long since the pairings had been announced, but by now most of the teams were working together desperately to find strategies for studying time together as well as formulate different possible approaches to whatever assignments they'd been given… the two on the rooftop now hadn't been doing that. "You sure you weren't trying to avoid me?"

"Just wanted some air," Ragna told her as he stood on the edge of the building, overlooking the academy and the city below. He'd be lying if he said that he still wasn't uncomfortable around this chick, but for the next while he wouldn't have a choice.

"And here I thought that you were disappointed that wrong partner," Cinder noted, her words almost sound like a taunt. Ragna didn't say anything, knowing full well who she was implying and he didn't care for it. "Guess we really will be seeing more of each other in the future."

"I guess," Ragna responded, his words automatic and hollow. "...Do you mind if we hold off on setting an official schedule until the rest of my group gets here, they're still staying held up by the storms."

"Sure thing," she told him as she opened the door to head back downstairs. "I hope we both get to know each other a little better; I'm interested in hearing about the _Grimm Reaper of Vacuo_."

"There's not a lot to tell," Ragna admitted before deciding that _Team RWBY_ (who he admitted would've been far easier to work with) would want him to at least try and make an effort. "But if you're interested, I'm sure I could tell you a story or two.

"I'd like that," Cinder told him with a warm smile. "Pleasant dreams."

"You too, Cinder," Ragna said as the door closed behind his new project partner. "Guess it was just my imagination, she actually seems alright." _'Her eyes sorta make it seem she was to take a bite out of me or something though.'_

Behind the closed door, Cinder had much different thoughts as a smirk began to form. Plans of ruining his life, making everyone moment a living hell… and even possibly a great betrayal down the line.

 _'Now what to do with Ragna,'_ she thought to herself as she took out her scroll, looking through the previous records of the partner assignment. _'Too bad I can't let on that I hacked the system to pair us... otherwise he might've found out he was supposed to be working with Ruby.'_

 ** _Author's Note_**

 ** _DAMN. New job isn't as easy as my last one, but I'm nearly making double coin. It's gonna take a bit to get used to so I might start setting my upload dates as Saturday from here on out. Not altogether sure, but we'll see what comes of it._**

 ** _As for this, there's going to be a lot of character related plots in the upcoming chapters, so there might be a lot more to follow than usual. I'm hoping that everything's going to lead to a big payoff at the end, but I'm going to need to choose my moves carefully. Let's look over a couple of reviews._**

 _Wlyman2009_ : Sometimes to see how crazy characters actually are, all you need to do is put them in a more casual setting (if you can).

 _The Unplanner:_ Thanks for the summary of the major points.

 _VirusChris_ : It's not that big of a deal, so go ahead and use the idea (if you haven't already).

 _MeteorElDrago_ : Ragna and Cinder's plotline might be the most challenging for me to write realistically, but I'm going to do my best to make sure I can.

 _BloodedgetheReaper2113_ : No Mai this chapter, but I'll be putting them together for some interactions down the line.

 _Pally111_ : Someone's certainly excited.

 _pendragonZx_ : Thanks, it takes some work to do that, but thankfully Yang humor can make it feel a little more on point.

 _Bismarck Alexander_ : Jacques Schnee is certainly going to be involved more in the plot this time around… as evident by Weiss's new plotline.

 _Flame1Hedgehog_ : If I were to do Gag Reels, they'd probably be done in the side story ' _Grimm Reaper's Extensions_ '

 _Guest (1)_ : Takes a lot of focus.

 ** _Until next time! Ciao!_**


	18. Food for the Soul

_**Crimson XVIII: Food for the Soul**_

' _This is just getting ridiculous; why the hell do I still feel so uneasy?'_

Ragna hadn't moved from the rooftop in the half hour since Cinder had left their first meeting. Once more the sun was beginning to descend over _Beacon_ , marking the end to another day. Even if the most that happened that particular day was a reasonably long assembly and the assigning of partners, the _Grimm Reaper_ felt… drained. Not physically at all, just like he'd had to endure something else… and dealing with his new Project partner might've had something to do with that.

' _Every damn second I spend close to that woman, I feel like something's trying to get under my skin… even the Rabbit's mouth doesn't hit me this bad. Sure I'll get pissed whenever I have to deal with her, but normally when its over and done with that's where I get to drop it. Here it's just getting worse the more I have to stew over it. And now I have to spend an entire quarter working close with her...'_

"Just brilliant."

Letting out a lengthy sigh, Ragna turned and finally departed from the rooftops and headed down the long stairway to the first floor. On his way down, he tried to come up with a plan for how he'd get his head cleared. Right now, the only thing he could come up with would be to head _Grimm_ hunting for the rest of the night. He'd be able to get out of the town's boundaries without much issue easily enough, but it was still a big time investment and he'd likely have a busy day the next morning having to cover for both Tsubaki and Noel since they were still trying to make their way back to the Academy. Not to mention he'd already been _Grimm_ hunting a few nights ago; too many more of these late nights now that school was back in session and he'd have _Goodwitch_ on his ass. For now that was still out.

"I know it's going to take a little longer with the stormy weather, but I think that's something that we're going to need to grin and bear." Litchi's voice caught Ragna off guard as he hadn't seen anyone besides himself in this dimly lit hallway. Glancing to the side, he saw that the door to her nurse office had been left slightly ajar. "Now don't you start; I already had to talk your father out of traveling across the entire Kingdom on foot just so that he could see you a few days early." A brief paused as she listened for the response on the other end of the phone. "I knew he would too. Tell you what, as soon you get here we'll go shopping like you've been wanting. There's a really nice mall in the area." There was a short happy outburst coming from the other line, letting Ragna know that offer had been received well. "I love you too sweetie, call me when you've heard anything about your flight."

Letting out a deep sigh, Litchi exited her office to head to her teacher's quarters for the night. A brief pause of surprise was evident on her face as she saw Ragna standing out by his lonesome, this marked the third time the two had run into one another.

"Didn't mean to eavesdrop here," Ragna offered as a weak apology, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Didn't think you would, but you don't exactly look like you're all _here_ in the first place," the nurse said, getting a closer look and causing Ragna to take a reserved step back. "Hmm… is it possible that even you can be worried about _Project Hell?_ "

"That your experience as a faculty talking? ...Or is it just motherly intuition?"

"A little of both I suppose," Litchi admitted with a small smile. "I suppose you heard me on the phone talking to my little Linhua then, despite not wanting to eavesdrop?"

"Just caught the end of the phone call," he admitted passively. To keep her from pressing any questions on himself, he decided it would be best to try and keep her talking about her daughter for now. "So… she's still in Haven then?"

"Right, at one of the smaller academies," Litchi explained. "She's been studying more and more on patient care and medicine, but I finally promised her that this year she'd be allowed to help me in my role as school nurse… provided of course that she keeps with her regular studies."

"She's studying medicine? That can't be easy," Ragna acknowledge, remembering some of the struggles Jubei had drilling that specific information into him years ago. "How old is she?"

"Why do you want to know? Are you asking so you can get a better guess at how old her dear mother is?"

"Uh… no?" he answered, not quite seeing the woman's logic.

"I'm only teasing you," she said, covering her mouth to suppress a small giggle. Ragna rolled his eyes, already having to deal with a lot of this behavior lately. "Not that it'd give you that good of an idea to start; Linuha isn't mine… not biologically anyways."

"...That right?" Ragna responded, his words sounding strange and thoughtful. Litchi picked up on this and continued on in hopes of unraveling the mystery of the teenager in front of her.

"I was actually the one the had helped deliver her and so far that's been the only time I've assisted in childbirth. Her biological mother… I'm afraid that she didn't make it. Her village had been destroyed by the _Grimm_ and all of the physical and mental stress made for a difficult pregnancy. Linhau was born weak as well, and it took everything I knew at the time just to keep her alive. I ended up spending so much of my time just looking after her that…"

"That you began to see her as a daughter," Ragna finished. Litchi was about to nod, but he continued to elaborate. "Even though she didn't have to be your responsibility, the fact that you knew next to nothing about taking care of a kid, and knew the kind of struggle you were in for… it didn't matter. Your mind was already made up and you were going to do everything that you could to make sure she'd live a happy life…" He noticed Litchi looking at him with a sense of awe and awkwardly flinched away. "At least… that's what I'm guessing happened."

"And you're completely spot on," she told him, almost breathless at how right he'd actually been. "I guess you have your own experience with that, then?"

"Something like that." Ragna thought back to the earlier years of his childhood. That had been a much more carefree time; one where he was able to laze around outside during the day, brush off the occasional chore, and still have a hot meal waiting for him. He remembered playing around with his family during day, reading in their long evenings together, and after dinner… "...Baking."

"I'm sorry?" Litchi asked, bringing Ragna back to the present.

"It's nothing, just sorta got an idea how I can destress," he finished, sending a small yet well meant smile. "Thanks doc."

"I'm not entirely sure what I just did to help, but you certainly look a bit more at ease," she told him decidedly.

"Heh, guess doctor work gave you an eye for this sort of thing."

"No… just a mother's intuition," Litchi joked with a small giggle, using Ragna's earlier words against him. "Have a good rest of your night, but make sure you're not up too late with whatever it is you're doing."

"Yeah yeah, I'll be sure to get a prescribed eight hours doc," Ragna waved off as he walked away, his behavior slowly returning to normal. ' _Hope I still remember the recipe. Didn't it go eggs, flour, milk…?'_

 _Meanwhile -Relius Clover's Office-_

' _Classes begin tomorrow and I've yet to even begin my unpacking,'_ the current genius of the academy thought to himself as he looked to the many still full packaging strewn about his office. ' _Were I still back at my labs, I would have left this to Carl and Ada, but alone even unpacking and shelving my books would take some time. It won't do well for the students to see their instructor with sleep in his eyes… not that they could see it.'_

Relius gave a low sigh as he adjusted his own mask, trying to formulate what it was he should do. True, tomorrow's curriculum would be easy enough to explain once he'd found the few books he needed, so the more delicate equipment could be readied at a later day Though he knew he was already on thin ice with a _certain_ colleague, and he was sure leaving so many boxes unpacked would earn him a less than ideal lecture of his own.

"What a bothersome individual, and somehow Ignis saw it right to make her Ada's godmother."

Relius's complaints were cut short when he heard a small series of taps upon his door. He'd already reunited properly with the rest of the staff, so they'd have no business here. That would only leave a student as his unexpected visitor. Relius hadn't even gotten around to posting his office hours and given the time of day this hardly seemed fair for him. Still, as an acting teacher of _Beacon_ he had responsibilities and restrictions that he hadn't as a famed researcher. Preparing himself for the first of his teacherly duties, he opened the door to engage his first student face to face.

"Jaune Arc…" Relius simply saying the young blond's name earned him a gasp; he tried not to look too pleased with that fact.

"You know who I am?" the student asked with an obvious quiver in his voice.

"Of course I do. I've obviously read the files on each and every one of my future students in preparation for my teaching job. Easier to plan a curriculum if I know the mostly blank slates I'm given to work with."

"A-all of them?"

"Jaune Arc. The only male between eight siblings and the current owner of the sword _Crocea Mors_ , a weapon that you inherited from your great-great-father. Partnered with Noel Vermillion in this year's _Random Project._ Minimal combat skills, though a slight development over this last quarter alone. Ranked average during last quarter's finals. Managed to gain entry into _Beacon Academy_ via faked credentials." Jaune gave an audible gulp. "Obviously Ozpin already knows, but I'd do my best not to disappoint him this quarter."

"U-Understood…" He felt terrified that he was likely on thin ice, but also relieved that he didn't have to hide his secret any further.

"But to the main point; _unknown semblance_." Relius seemed to scowl beneath his mask. "Which brings you to my doorstep at this late hour."

"I-I can come back tomorrow, or… some other time?"

"No; you're already here which means there's little point. But I'm afraid you'll have to earn your knowledge tonight." He gestured Jaune to follow him into the office. "Be careful with my equipment, I want everything set properly on my desk and nothing set ajar in the slightest. I'll begin by organizing my bookshelf."

"Uh… if your equipment is so important, shouldn't you be-?"

"Do you want my advice or not?"

"Right on it!" Jaune promised as he quickly went to open the cardboard boxes while Relius looked over his empty bookshelves, silently pondering the system that would best serve his organization needs here. "So about my semblance?"

"I'm afraid I can't give you the simple answer to what your semblance will be, the rumors surrounding my abilities are grossly exaggerated," Relius explained, not taking his eyes off the empty shelves. "People say I can tell a person's semblance just by looking at them, but the truth is I've only been successful about seventy percent of the time. An impressive feat to be sure, but not omnipotence like many have claimed."

"So you can't know for sure," Jaune said as he opened one of the bags that held a scientific device that he'd never seen before. Knowing how much this probably cost, he tried to be careful as he set it upon Relius's desk. "Could you at least make a guess to what kind of semblance I have? Anything to know what I'd working with in the future."

"It's not as easy as simply looking at a person and knowing _This person will have a Speed boosting semblance_ or _I know this person has a Strength based semblance._ Much research has to go into making even the barest of educated guesses, but with the level of understanding I have for you…" Relius seemed to think it over a long moment, though his eyes still remained focused on the bookshelf. "...A _Support_ base, that's the type you would obtain as you are right now."

"Oh…" It was clear Jaune couldn't help but feel the slightest bit disappointed. He'd been hoping that his _Semblance_ would have finally given him a proper edge in combat, something that would finally allow him to keep up with his peers as his own warrior… this just made it clear how much he still needed to depend on them.

"I understand that you're disappointed in my evaluation, but again I could be wrong," the professor told him as he set the first textbook upon his shelf, an organization system now in mind. "And even if I am right, it's more the semblance holder's abilities to express their semblance than the power itself."

' _But I don't have that, even if I got my semblance today the others have been using theirs for so long I wouldn't have the first idea how to use my own,'_ Jaune thought bitterly, but he also realized something the teacher had been implying. "You said I'd get a _Support_ semblance as I am right now, does that mean it can change?"

"Now… you're asking the right questions," Relius commented, almost forming a pleased smirk. "Semblances are not set in stone, nor are they some preordained destiny that we all carry. The best way of looking at a semblance is as an expression of the soul, the cumulation of who we are as individuals."

"...So, what does that mean for me? That I'd have to change who I am before I get my semblance?"

"Indeed, but it's not as easy as it sounds. I gave you the Support semblance earlier, as you'd expect a large part of that is your reliance on others as a whole, making contributions more based on strategy than combat experience." Jaune wasn't exactly a fan of the phrasing, he felt like he'd just been called weak. "Only theoretically of course, if you wanted I suppose you could try to change that particular aspect of yourself in an attempt to change your semblance, but that's far easier said than done. Even if you managed to become the greatest warrior of the academy overnight and could single handedly take down an entire swarm of _Grimm_ … are you really just doing this for yourself, or are you doing this so that you can better aid your teammates?"

"Both I guess," Jaune admitted feeling that there were more to semblances than he thought. "So does that mean it's possible for someone to change their _Semblance_ once it's already been awakened?"

"I wouldn't know, in fact I've spent a few years trying to see if such a thing was even possible," Relius admitted. "True, you'd be able to change a few aspects of your powers, but to suddenly change a semblance completely still seems nothing more than a fairy tale."

"Oh…" Jaune realized.

"Which is why I completely detest the idea of _Bloodline Semblances_ ," the professor said with a fair bit of disdain. "While your soul and semblance is an expression of you as a whole, it can be… influenced. Certain parts of who you are can be rewritten over to give priority to other aspects. I assume you know Weiss Schnee from your year?"

"Yeah, she mainly uses Glyphs as part of her semblance."

"Which is passed down in her family, in fact it's so encouraged to the point that a family member could be seen as an outsider if they had any other type of semblance. Most often the not, the pressure is enough to confirm them to their family's wishes." He gave a lengthy sigh. "It's an honest shame, so many noble children with so much potential, squandered by their House's need to set some self imposed image. _Inherited semblances only make for inherited burdens_ … but that's a thesis I wasn't allowed to publish."

' _Guess Weiss had it harder than we thought,'_ Jaune started to piece together. "So then, how do you awaken a semblance in the first place? Is there some trick to it?"

"No tricks so to speak, though again it can be influenced," Relius said as he began shelving his books at a faster pace now. "Though there are a few reports of many semblances being awakened during certain instances, the largely seem random overall. Some speculate that training, dire combat conditions, or certain forms of trauma can awaken a semblance. The truth is that there's not nearly enough concrete evidence to support any of these claims. They just seem to… happen."

"That's… well, I guess I'll just have to wait then."

"Indeed, but let me give you two warnings before you do anything reckless. I've recently heard of a product being sold on the Black Market that claims to unleash your semblance. While I have my doubts that a student could ever obtain such a thing, you must never use it. At best, these things have no reaction and you've wasted most of your life savings, but ingesting it could prove fatal or at the very least cause… _infertility_."

' _Mom would kill me if that happened,'_ Jaune thought worriedly to himself.

"Second is going back to the claim of Semblances being awoken by a form of trauma. While some still see a truth to an awakening brought about by a rush of adrenaline, I'd ask that you don't try to search for it." Relius seemed to pause at this idea. "This is mere theory of course, but there is some evidence that pushing too hard will result in something… _broken_. _**Dark Semblances**_ ; Semblances brought about by a trauma so terrible that the awakened ability is completely corrupted, as is the soul. These can be among the most dangerous of Semblances… to any party involved."

"I… I'll keep that in mind," Jaune said as he finished taking out the last of the equipment. "That should be everything set up, but if you don't mind two more questions…"

"If they are about my mask, you can leave," Relius told him bluntly, taking his time in shelving the rest of his books, one of the few hobbies he still had.

"...Okay, I've got one question then," the student admitted. "What's your semblance? If you're a valedictorian it must be really powerful."

" _Creation_ based, though I can only form it to shape gears." With a sharp snap of his fingers, Relius created a glowing cog behind him out of thin air. There wasn't anything overly special about it, it just floated in the air and slowly rotated. "I call it _Clockwork Horror…_ You don't seem impressed."

"I mean, I understand the Clockwork part easily enough. But Horror?"

Grunting, Relius snapped his fingers again, creating an identical cog right next to it. The two creations then increased their turning speed in opposite directions, going dangerously fast and causing wicked sparks to flash wherever they made contact.

"Go on, trying sticking a finger through, or maybe your entire arm." Jaune reasonably refused the offer. "As I said, it's the user's expression of a semblance, not the power itself."

 _Beacon Kitchens_

"Starting to smell like home," Ragna muttered to himself aloud as he rubbed down the station he'd been using for cooking. "Nice that they had everything I needed here… not that the recipe is too complex to begin with."

It would've made for a much later night if he'd needed to head into town and grab what he needed, thankfully the public cooking supplies had everything that he needed to start cooking a decent recreation of one of his childhood recipes. Sure most of it had been based on memory… but he'd made this enough times when he was a kid that he could remember everything he needed by heart. Much like he'd hoped the basic act of cooking itself felt nostalgic as it did relaxing, taking his mind off of his awkward situation with his current partner.

"Smells like someone's baking." Ragna heard a voice say from the hallway before the doors were opened revealing Team _RWBY_ with their leader at the front. "R-Ragna?"

"Good timing," he said, putting his left hand into a thick kitchen mitt. Opening the over and reaching inside, he brought out a steaming metal tray. "Cookies just finished baking."

"...Well if you insist I'll take a half dozen or so!" Ruby quickly shouted, reaching for the still steaming try with her bare hand. Ragna harshly slapped it away with his own. "Ow, hey!"

"These are fresh out of the oven you idiot; don't tell me that you were going to burn yourself half to death instead of waiting."

"Oh she's already tried that at home… on several occasions," Yang told him, thinking back to when her father tried to make their mother's old recipe and Ruby just couldn't keep herself away. Even now, Ragna had to hold Ruby back with his free hand while he held up the tray of cookies with his mitted one. "Kind of an odd family game of keep away… it got much harder when she got her semblance."

"Still, if you wanted to make cookies you should've known Ruby well enough that she'd try something like this," Weiss Schnee told him in her usual matter a factly way.

"Sounds more like you're just jealous he didn't make them for _you_ ," Blake countered, earning an appropriately icy glare from her teammate.

"To be completely open about it, I didn't make these for anyone," Ragna intervened, trying to stop whatever was about to happen before it could start. Giving one last stern look to Ruby, he set the tray down on the counter. "I just sorta made these on a whim 'cause I felt like it."

"Yeah, but why make cookies? I thought you usually prefered either barbecue, tempura, or curry," Ruby asked as she tried to take her attention from the plate of oh so heavenly temptations.

"Because…" Ragna was hesitating for a long moment, crossing his arms as he stood there awkwardly unable to make eye contact with them. In his head, he knew that it was silly to keep something this small from them, from anyone really, but especially from them… This was just something that he'd closed off for so long, it was hard for him to expose it even to people he felt close to.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk about whatever it is if it makes you uncomfortable," Ruby told him. "Don't feel like we're pressuring you at all."

"...Okay, why is everyone looking at me; I'm not the only guilty one here," Yang told the other girls who were giving her accusatory scowls.

"Sheesh," Ragna said as he uncrossed his arms, giving a more familiar moody slouch. "...I made them because it reminds me of my mother."

"Your… mother?" Weiss repeated, realizing that aside from Jin none of them knew anything about Ragna's family. She'd assumed he was a sort of extended child from the Kisaragi family, but had never asked him about it directly.

"I mean I call her my mom, but I guess she was more of my caretaker than anything else," he admitted, slightly backpedaling the sentiment. "After a while of living with her though, that's what I started calling her… Jin started doing it much earlier than I did."

"Oh… and…?" Yang began hesitantly. Ragna knew where this question was going.

"She… she _died_ over a decade ago." He had to fight hard not to grit his teeth at his phrasing. There'd been nothing natural about that death; and witnessing it first hand was an image he'd never be able to forget… and a part of him never wanted to.

"Yang and I lost our moms too," Ruby told him gently, trying to show him some form of comradery, even if it was over loss.

"...Moms as in plural?" the Reaper questioned.

"Yep, guess we never told you that Ruby and are _half_ -sisters," Yang said, putting a comforting arm around her little sis. "Never really cared for that term though; I say Ruby's my sister, she's my sister."

"And don't let anyone tell you a damn thing otherwise," Ragna asserted, earning soft smiles from both of them. "I probably should've seen that coming though; why else would you two have last names?"

"I dunno, maybe because I wanted to change my name to something more intimidating?" the blonde suggested, smirking while she tried to lighten the mood. "Yang Xiao Long does stand for Shining Little Dragon."

"Please, if you'd really changed your name it wouldn't have been anything so subtle," he countered. "You'd have gone straight for Yang _Goddess of Fire_."

"...Probably," she admitted, leading Ragna to give an honest chuckle.

"So now that all my doom and gloom is out of the way, did everyone find out who they're working with on the final project?"

"Yep! Looks like I'm going spend my project teamed up with Pyrrha!" Ruby told him excitedly. "I talked with her and it sounds like she already has a lot of ideas on how we're going to tackle our assignment."

"You're lucky that way, I don't think Nora's going to be taking it nearly as seriously," Blake said with a small sigh. "Something tells me that by the end of this I'm going to appreciate everything Ren has to do to keep her in line."

"...You're already teamed up with Yang, how much harder can it be?" Ragna's honest question was rewarded with a sharp jab to his side from the blonde, giving him just the slightest bit of a scowl. "Hey, I'm not wrong."

"Oh? Then what do have to say about me being teamed up with Makoto Nanaya?" she bit back.

"The fact you'll both enable each other's crazy plans? A recipe for disaster," he concluded.

"...He's not wrong," Blake had to admit, giving Yang a small smirk as the blonde found herself on the receiving end of teasing tonight. "But as for Weiss…"

"...I'm going to be teamed up with your brother," she informed Ragna, her father's ploy weighing heavily on her mind. "He doesn't seem like he's necessarily going to be a problem to work with, but I don't think we'll be budding friends by the end of this."

"Just let me know if he starts acting like a total ass, I can always have a few words with him," the Reaper promised, though Weiss knew Jin's cold posture was the least of her worries right now. "As for me, it looks like I'm going to be working with a transfer chick named Cinder."

"That girl we met yesterday after sparring?" Ruby remembered. "Wow, small world. Have you talked to her since you found out?"

"Yeah, I chatted with her a little bit ago though there wasn't a whole lot to say. It's just hard to make plans when I'm missing half of my damn team," he groaned. "Either way, I get the feeling that I'm going to be spending most of my time with her this quarter."

"Do you think she's cute?"

Now if that question had come from Yang, Ragna would've likely responded with an eye roll, a swear, an annoyed grunt, or some combination of the three. He'd have known full well that this was one of her classic attempts to either tease or embarrass him. Hearing this question coming from Blake was a new one on him. The cat faunus herself didn't seem to realize she'd asked the question aloud until she noticed everyone staring at her, to which she responded by merely shying her gaze away.

"Ooooo-kay," Ragna said as the air felt awkward, somehow making him feel more embarrassed than Yang had ever made him feel. Now all eyes were on him as they awaited his response. "I mean, it's not like she's ugly or anything. Far from it. It's just that there's something there…" He couldn't help but give an involuntary shiver. "There's just something that I'm not a fan of." Trying to put a smirk on his face, he turned to Blake. "Any reason you felt like asking?"

"I was just wondering," Blake said a tad more on the defensive side, though Ragna's smirk turned just the slightest bit snarky as he noticed the rising pink on her features. "Any follow up, Yang?"

"Not from where I'm standing, I got what I wanted," she told her partner, getting her back for the slight teasing from before. Blake's scowl was enough to tell her to move on so Yang directed her attention to the still cooling tray of cookies. "How long do we still have to wait?"

"Probably just a few minutes at best, which reminds me…" Grabbing a spatula from one of the drawers, Ragna made a small plate using up about half the cookies. "Rest are yours, but for hell's sake make sure Ruby doesn't burn herself on these things."

"I promise to be patient," Ruby promised a little reluctantly before smiling at Ragna. "It's just a little hard to wait, knowing how good of a cook you are!"

"...Say that after you try these; I'm still not convinced that these came out right," he admitted. He almost sounded embarrassed about it, but departed with another word and left the girls by themselves.

"So Ruby, you've met the Cinder person Ragna's partnering with?" Yang asked her sister, leading the younger sibling to nod. "And, what are your thoughts to Blake's question?"

"Do we really still have to talk about this?" the cat Faunus demanded with a slight hiss in her voice. "Besides, Ragna was just here and he answered just fine."

"Maybe, but then again this is Ragna's judgement that we're talking about," Weiss cutting in, agreeing with Yang for once. "He might not have the best eye for this sort of thing."

"...Then what does that say about all of us?" Blake responded realistically.

"That we didn't give him much of a choice either way," the blonde shot back. "So what's Cinder like?"

"I mean I can't say too much about her; we both only met for a couple of minutes," Ruby explained as she tried to think back. "I didn't really get an idea for what kind of a person she is, only that she seemed kinda more focused on Ragna than me." She gave a shrug. "Maybe if I'd seen her weapon I would have a better idea."

"What would looking at a weapon tell you about a person?" Weiss demanded.

"Nothing, just that it's something that she wanted to see," Yang responded before shaking her head at her sister's weapon loving behavior. "The only thing she loves more than weapons is cooling off right in front of her."

"Make that cooled off because I've waited long enough!" Ruby said before she finally grabbed one of Ragna's cookies and took a large bite out of it. She chewed the tasty treat in pure bliss for a few moments… only to stiffen as her bright smile seemed to vanish the better she tasted it.

"Ragna did warn us that he's had trouble with this recipe," Weiss reminded.

"That's not the problem," Ruby said in an eerily quiet voice as she stared at the treat. "Yang, you need to try these."

Yang didn't know what her sister was getting at, but when she went for her own tasting of the treat, the point became painfully clear. Blake and Weiss grew concerned as the normally bubbly brawler was awe struck by that simple treat.

"There's no way," she said through a half full mouth of food. "This… this our mom's recipe."

 _Later -Beacon Dormitories-_

"He damn well better like these," Ragna muttered to himself as he prepared for an encounter that still had a high potential to go very wrong. Things hadn't been as heated these past few encounters, but at least then there had been others around to keep them at least more self conscious of making a scene. As things stood now, if they met in private things could take a turn towards an ugly argument. "Whatever…"

Knocking on the door in front of him and waiting for it open, he was greeted by Kagura Mutsuki who looked surprised to see him anywhere near his team room. Jin was also inside, looking over some books and already taking notes… despite the fact that the projects hadn't even been assigned yet.

"Cookies?" Kagura asked with an eyebrow raised. That did cause Jin to lift his head from his notetaking, eyeing the plate of cookies Ragna held.

"I had some left over, don't feel like I'm made these just for the both of you," Ragna said as he brushed past Kagura and set them down on one of the nightstands between the beds. It was only then that he noticed Jin was eyeing him with a hint of scepticism. "What? You don't want them?"

"It's not that," Jin said before smirking at his older sibling, his reading glasses only adding to how smug he currently looked. "I'm just surprised you managed to make these without setting off any of the smoke alarms." A tick mark appeared on Ragna's forehead at the insult. "Back when we were kids, instead of making cookies all you managed to make was an out of control fire."

"Hey! I only did that the first-!"

"The first several times," Jin shot back. "And even when we weren't threatened with our church burning down, these were more charcoal than actual cookie."

"Damn it, do you want these or not?" Ragna demanded with a scowl. Jin didn't say another word as he took one of the cookies off of the plate and bit into it, taking a long moment to consider the taste as he chewed it. "So? How are they?"

"Just like how I remember them," Jin admitted through a pang of nostalgia. Trying to cover them, he kept his snarky composure up, almost like a shield. "Minus your usual charcoal of course."

"Honestly Jin…" he groaned, grabbing one of the cookies for himself. "Just don't be a total bastard to Weiss, alright?"

"I have no plans or reason to, but I'll expect her to put a strong effort towards our project and get positive results," he informed. Ragna figured that would be the best deal he could get, so nodded as he headed out of his brother's room, passing Kagura once again as he shut the door behind him.

"Your not going to tell him what's going on?" Kagura asked as he grabbed one of the cookies for himself.

"No, I'll leave that Weiss if she decides to do so… which I doubt that she would so soon," Jin counted as he continued with his own treat while resuming his reading on noble families and their traditional sense of law. "Any number of things could happen if he found out now… for the moment, we should continue to design our base strategy before committing to any single path."

"Good call, guess it's still too early in the game," he noted as started on his own cookie, which he found pleasant enough. "Between projects, getting out of this damn marriage scheme, and making sure you look good with the Festival, you're going to have your hands full this quarter."

"Which is why I need to make sure I can make every second count," he countered. "You don't have to help me on this, you've done more than enough by warning me."

"Come on, what kind of friend would I be if I just dumped this whole mess on you and walked away?" Kagura questioned. "Just promise me that when this is over that you and Tsubaki will stop being so damn uptight around each other, it's starting painful with how much the two of you beat around the bush."

"No deal," Jin responded, not missing a beat as he continued his reading.

"...Can't say I didn't try, Jinny."

"Stop calling me that."

"NO."

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **With the 60+ hour work weeks I've been having, I'm a little surprised that I got this chapter out at all. Things at my new job are getting crazier as we get closer to the end of the year, so there might not be that many updates. That said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter even if it was a little on the shorter and more exposition based side.**_

 _Review Responses_

 _Wlyman2009_ : Stayed tuned for more then.

 _Fernandamichelleraya_ : Villains doing villainous things is always a fun… and then there's Hazama where things go completely out of control for everyone involved.

Friend: Yes to Jaune's sisters, but I'm not assigning names just yet.

 _Bismark Alexander_ : References are fine as long as they don't completely ruin the illusion of fantasy, but I'll keep that in mind. As for what she has against Ragna, it more that she hates Hazama and knows that (even if he doesn't show it) he has a vested interest in Ragna.

 _Slackboy101_ : It would make parts of his like a living hell for sure.

 _Ragriz_ : It's good money, but it's also why I went a whole month without posting.

 _ArmantusCumPinnae_ : Hmm… you've got a lot of interesting ways I can take this story, but more of that in the future.

 _The Unplanner_ : Hah! All hilarious takes on the story.

 _P3R50N4_ : Future reveal planned.

Guest: ...I'll consider it and what the readers want.

 _Pally111_ : Heh, your reviews never fail to put a smile on my face. Great to hear from you.

 _ShadowSytykerX_ : WHOOOPS!

Guest (2): Tell me about it… math teachers especially.

 _Reclusive Dork_ : He'll certainly become involved further down the line.

 _JBL0104_ : Either way…

 _ **Until next time everyone! Ciao!**_


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